The East German mark, commonly called the eastern mark was the currency of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Its ISO 4217 currency code was DDM. The currency was known officially as the Deutsche Mark from 1948 to 1964, Mark der Deutschen Notenbank from 1964 to 1967, and from 1968 to 1990 as the Mark der DDR (Mark of the GDR); it was referred to colloquially as simply the Mark. It was divided into 100 Pfennig (Pf).
After reunification the German Bundesbank exchanged Deutschmarks and has continued to do so – in exchange for Euros these days – up to the present day. This includes the marks of both West and East Germany.
Now there has been a change in policy. Although there has been no public statement, sources tell us that at the end of 2013 there will no longer be exchanges possible. In other words the Ost Mark or Deutschmark will cease to persist in value at all.
The Bundesbank website today declares:
“In today’s market the Bundesbank offers You can exchange unlimited amounts of DM banknotes and coins for euro indefinitely and free of charge at all Deutsche Bundesbank branches. In certain cases, foreign banknotes and coins may be exchanged in their country of origin. The official exchange rate is set at EUR 1 for DEM 1.95583.”
Anyone with Deutsche Marks or Ost Marks had better hurry to their nearest Bundesbank branch.
It seems the German Government is keen to establish public confidence in the Euro to the extent that it will not tolerate the continued existence of deposits of Marks.
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