Papiermark
Mark (German)
100 trillion-ℳ︁ note, 1924 (short scale (US) or 100 billion-ℳ︁ long scale (UK pre-1974, Germany, much of Europe)
Unit
Plural	Mark
Symbol	ℳ︁‎
Denominations
Subunit
1⁄100	Pfennig
Plural
Pfennig	Pfennig
Symbol
Pfennig	₰
Banknotes	1ℳ︁, 2ℳ︁, 5ℳ︁, 10ℳ︁, 20ℳ︁, 50ℳ︁, 100ℳ︁, 500ℳ︁ 1,000ℳ︁, 5,000ℳ︁, 10,000ℳ︁, 20,000ℳ︁, 50,000ℳ︁, 100,000ℳ︁, 200,000ℳ︁, 500,000ℳ︁ 1-million-ℳ︁, 2-million-ℳ︁, 5-million-ℳ︁, 10-million-ℳ︁, 20-million-ℳ︁, 50-million-ℳ︁, 100-million-ℳ︁, 500-million-ℳ︁ 1-billion-ℳ︁, 5-billion-ℳ︁, 10-billion-ℳ︁, 20-billion-ℳ︁, 50-billion-ℳ︁, 100-billion-ℳ︁, 200-billion-ℳ︁, 500-billion-ℳ︁ 1-trillion-ℳ︁, 2-trillion-ℳ︁, 5-trillion-ℳ︁, 10-trillion-ℳ︁, 20-trillion-ℳ︁, 50-trillion-ℳ︁, 100-trillion-ℳ︁
Coins	1₰, 2₰, 5₰, 10₰, 50₰ (1⁄2ℳ︁) 1ℳ︁, 3ℳ︁, 200ℳ︁, 500ℳ︁
Demographics
Replaced	German mark (1871)
Replaced by	Rentenmark
User(s)	German Empire Weimar Republic Free City of Danzig Klaipėda Region
Issuance
Central bank	Reichsbank
Valuation
Pegged with	United States dollar = 4.2-trillion-ℳ︁ = RM4.20 (1 trillion short scale (US) or 1 billion long scale (UK pre-1974, Germany, much of Europe) = 1,000,000,000,000)
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The Papiermark (German: [paˈpiːɐ̯ˌmaʁk] ^ⓘ; lit. 'paper mark', officially just Mark, sign: ℳ︁) was the German currency from 4 August 1914^[1] when the link between the Goldmark and gold was abandoned, due to the outbreak of World War I.^[2] In particular, the Papiermark was the currency issued during the hyperinflation in Germany of 1922 and 1923.^[3]

History

Further information: Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic

From 1914, the value of the mark fell. The rate of inflation rose following the end of World War I and reached its highest point in October 1923. The currency stabilized in November 1923 after the announcement of the creation of the Rentenmark, although the Rentenmark did not come into circulation until 1924. When it did, it replaced the Papiermark at the rate of 1 trillion (10¹²)-ℳ︁ to RM1. On 30 August 1924 the Rentenmark was replaced by the Reichsmark.^[4]

In addition to the issues of the government, emergency issues of both tokens and paper money, known as Kriegsgeld (war money) and Notgeld (emergency money), were produced by local authorities.

The Papiermark was also used in the Free City of Danzig until it was replaced by the Danzig Gulden in late 1923. Several coins and emergency issues in Papiermark were issued by the free city.

Coins

A 5-million-ℳ︁ coin would have been worth US$714.29 in January 1923, but only about 1 thousandth of one cent by October 1923.

During the war, cheaper metals were introduced for coins, including aluminium, zinc and iron, although silver 1⁄2ℳ︁ pieces continued in production until 1919. Aluminium 1₰ were produced until 1918 and the 2₰ until 1916. Whilst iron 5₰, both iron and zinc 10₰ and aluminium 50₰ coins were issued until 1922. Aluminium 3ℳ︁ were issued in 1922 and 1923, and aluminium 200ℳ︁ and 500ℳ︁ were issued in 1923. The quality of many of these coins varied from decent to poor.

During this period, many provinces and cities also had their own corresponding coin and note issues, referred to as Notgeld currency. This came about often due to a shortage of exchangeable tender in one region or another during the war and hyperinflation periods. Some of the most memorable of these to be issued during this period came from Westphalia and featured the highest face value denominations on a coin ever, eventually reaching 1,000,000,000,000ℳ︁.^[5]

Banknotes

First World War issues

In 1914, the State Loan Office began issuing paper money known as Darlehnskassenscheine (loan fund notes). These circulated alongside the issues of the Reichsbank. Most were 1ℳ︁ and 2ℳ︁ notes but there were also 5ℳ︁, 20ℳ︁, 50ℳ︁ and 100ℳ︁ notes.

Post War issues

The victor nations in World War I decided to assess Germany for their costs of conducting the war against Germany. With no means of paying in gold or currency backed by reserves, Germany ran the presses, causing the value of the Mark to collapse.^{[disputed – discuss]} Between 1914 and the end of 1923 the Papiermark's rate of exchange against the U.S. dollar plummeted from 4.2ℳ︁ = US$1 to 4.2 trillionℳ︁ = US$1.^[6] The price of one gold mark (358 mg of pure gold) in German paper currency at the end of 1918 was 2ℳ︁, but by the end of 1919 a gold mark cost 10ℳ︁.^[7] This inflation worsened between 1920 and 1922, and the cost of a gold mark (or conversely the devaluation of the paper mark) rose from 15ℳ︁ to 1,282ℳ︁.^[7] In 1923 the value of the paper mark had its worst decline. By July, the cost of a gold mark had risen to 101,112ℳ︁, and in September was already at 13 million-ℳ︁.^[7] On 30 Nov 1923 it cost 1 trillion-ℳ︁ to buy a single gold mark.^[7]

In October 1923, Germany experienced a 29,500% hyperinflation (roughly 21% interest per day).^[8] Historically, this one-month inflation rate has only been exceeded three times: Yugoslavia, 313,000,000% (64.6% per day, January 1994); Zimbabwe, 79.6 billion% (98% per day, November 2008); and Hungary, 41.9 quadrillion% (207% per day, July 1946).^[8]

On 15 November 1923 the Papiermark was replaced by the rentenmark at RM4.2 rentenmark = US$1,^[6] or 1 trillion-ℳ︁ = RM1 (exchangeable through July 1925).^[9]

During the hyperinflation, ever higher denominations of banknotes were issued by the Reichsbank^[10] and other institutions (notably the Reichsbahn railway company).^[11] The Papiermark was produced and circulated in enormously large quantities. Before the war, the highest denomination was 1,000ℳ︁, equivalent to approximately £stg.50 or US$238. In early 1922, 10,000ℳ︁ notes were introduced, followed by 100,000ℳ︁ and 1 million-ℳ︁ notes in February 1923. July 1923 saw notes up to 50 million-ℳ︁, with 10 milliard (10¹⁰)-ℳ︁ notes introduced in September. The hyperinflation peaked in October 1923 and banknote denominations rose to 100 trillion (10¹⁴)-ℳ︁. At the end of the hyperinflation, these notes were worth approximately £5Stg or US$24.

Weimar Republic (1920–24)

Republic Treasury Notes, Weimar Republic Reichsbanknote
Year	Issue	Value^{[nb 1]}	Date^{[nb 2]}	Comments
1920	First^[12]	10ℳ︁	6 Feb 1920	126 mm × 84 mm (5.0 in × 3.3 in)
		50ℳ︁	23 Jul 1920	150 mm × 100 mm (5.9 in × 3.9 in)
		100ℳ︁	1 Nov 1920	Portraits based on the Bamberg riders at Bamberg Cathedral 162 mm × 108 mm (6.4 in × 4.3 in)
1922	First^[13]	10,000ℳ︁	19 Jan 1922	Portrait of a young Man by Albrecht Dürer 210 mm × 124 mm (8.3 in × 4.9 in)
	Second^[14]	500ℳ︁	27 Mar 1922	Jakob Meyer of the Meyer zum Pfeil family 175 mm × 112 mm (6.9 in × 4.4 in)
	Second^[14]	500ℳ︁	7 Jul 1922	173 mm × 90 mm (6.8 in × 3.5 in)
	Third^[14]	100ℳ︁	4 Aug 1922	162 mm × 90 mm (6.4 in × 3.5 in)
		1,000ℳ︁	15 Sep 1922	160 mm × 85 mm (6.3 in × 3.3 in)
		5,000ℳ︁	16 Sep 1922	Section of Portrait of a Man with a Coin by Hans Memling 130 mm × 90 mm (5.1 in × 3.5 in)
		5,000ℳ︁	19 Nov 1922	Portrait of Hans Urmiller based on Portrait of Hans Urmiller and his Son by Barthel Beham 198 mm × 107 mm (7.8 in × 4.2 in)
		50,000ℳ︁	19 Nov 1922	Bürgermeister Arnold von Brauweiler based on Burgomaster Arnold von Brauweiler by Barthel Bruyn the Elder 190 mm × 110 mm (7.5 in × 4.3 in)
	Fourth^[14]	5,000ℳ︁	2 Dec 1922	Merchant Imhof based on Portrait of a Man by Albrecht Dürer 130 mm × 90 mm (5.1 in × 3.5 in)
	Fifth^[15]	1,000ℳ︁	15 Dec 1922	Portrait of Jörg Herz based on Jörg Herz Nürnberger Münzmeister by Georg Pencz 140 mm × 90 mm (5.5 in × 3.5 in)
1923	First^[15]	100,000ℳ︁	1 Feb 1923	Merchant Georg Giese based on Portrait of Georg Giese by Hans Holbein the Younger 190 mm × 115 mm (7.5 in × 4.5 in)
	Second^[15]	10,000ℳ︁	3 Feb 1923	Not issued
		20,000ℳ︁	20 Feb 1923	160 mm × 95 mm (6.3 in × 3.7 in)
		1,000,000ℳ︁	20 Feb 1923	160 mm × 110 mm (6.3 in × 4.3 in)
	Third^[16]	5,000ℳ︁	15 Mar 1923	Portrait of Hans Urmiller based on Portrait of Hans Urmiller and his Son by Barthel Beham 148 mm × 90 mm (5.8 in × 3.5 in)
		500,000ℳ︁	1 May 1923	170 mm × 95 mm (6.7 in × 3.7 in)
		2,000,000ℳ︁	23 Jul 1923	Merchant Georg Giese based on Portrait of Georg Giese by Hans Holbein the Younger 162 mm × 87 mm (6.4 in × 3.4 in)
		5,000,000ℳ︁	1 Jun 1923	170 mm × 95 mm (6.7 in × 3.7 in)
	Fourth^[17]	100,000ℳ︁	25 Jul 1923	110 mm × 80 mm (4.3 in × 3.1 in)
		500,000ℳ︁	25 Jul 1923	175 mm × 80 mm (6.9 in × 3.1 in)
		1,000,000ℳ︁	25 Jul 1923	160 mm × 95 mm (6.3 in × 3.7 in)
		1,000,000ℳ︁	25 Jul 1923	185 mm × 80 mm (7.3 in × 3.1 in)
		5,000,000ℳ︁	25 Jul 1923	190 mm × 80 mm (7.5 in × 3.1 in)
		10,000,000ℳ︁	25 Jul 1923	195 mm × 80 mm (7.7 in × 3.1 in)
		20,000,000ℳ︁	25 Jul 1923	195 mm × 83 mm (7.7 in × 3.3 in)
		50,000,000ℳ︁	25 Jul 1923	195 mm × 86 mm (7.7 in × 3.4 in)
	Fifth^[18]	50,000ℳ︁	9 Aug 1923	105 mm × 70 mm (4.1 in × 2.8 in)
		200,000ℳ︁	9 Aug 1923	115 mm × 70 mm (4.5 in × 2.8 in)
		1,000,000ℳ︁	9 Aug 1923	120 mm × 80 mm (4.7 in × 3.1 in)
		2,000,000ℳ︁	9 Aug 1923	125 mm × 80 mm (4.9 in × 3.1 in)
		5,000,000ℳ︁	20 Aug 1923	128 mm × 80 mm (5.0 in × 3.1 in)
		10,000,000ℳ︁	22 Aug 1923	125 mm × 80 mm (4.9 in × 3.1 in)
		100,000,000ℳ︁	22 Aug 1923	150 mm × 85 mm (5.9 in × 3.3 in)
	Sixth^[19]	20,000,000ℳ︁	1 Sep 1923	125 mm × 82 mm (4.9 in × 3.2 in)
		50,000,000ℳ︁	1 Sep 1923	124 mm × 84 mm (4.9 in × 3.3 in)
		500,000,000ℳ︁	1 Sep 1923	155 mm × 85 mm (6.1 in × 3.3 in)
		500,000,000,000ℳ︁	1 Sep 1923	Specimen only
		1,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	1 Sep 1923	Specimen only
	Seventh^[19]	1,000,000,000ℳ︁	5 Sep 1923	Overprinted on 15 Dec 1922 note 140 mm × 90 mm (5.5 in × 3.5 in)
		1,000,000,000ℳ︁	5 Sep 1923	160 mm × 86 mm (6.3 in × 3.4 in)
		5,000,000,000ℳ︁	10 Sep 1923	165 mm × 85 mm (6.5 in × 3.3 in)
		10,000,000,000ℳ︁	15 Sep 1923
		10,000,000,000ℳ︁	1 Oct 1923	160 mm × 105 mm (6.3 in × 4.1 in)
		20,000,000,000ℳ︁	1 Oct 1923	140 mm × 90 mm (5.5 in × 3.5 in)
		50,000,000,000ℳ︁	10 Oct 1923	176 mm × 86 mm (6.9 in × 3.4 in)
		200,000,000,000ℳ︁	15 Oct 1923	140 mm × 80 mm (5.5 in × 3.1 in)
	Eighth^[20]	1,000,000,000ℳ︁	20 Oct 1923	127 mm × 61 mm (5.0 in × 2.4 in)
		5,000,000,000ℳ︁	20 Oct 1923	130 mm × 64 mm (5.1 in × 2.5 in)
		500,000,000,000ℳ︁	20 Oct 1923	Overprinted on 15 Mar 1923 note Portrait of Hans Urmiller based on Portrait of Hans Urmiller and his Son by Barthel Beham 145 mm × 90 mm (5.7 in × 3.5 in)
	Ninth^[20]	50,000,000,000ℳ︁	26 Oct 1923	135 mm × 65 mm (5.3 in × 2.6 in)
		100,000,000,000ℳ︁	26 Oct 1923	135 mm × 65 mm (5.3 in × 2.6 in)
		500,000,000,000ℳ︁	26 Oct 1923	137 mm × 65 mm (5.4 in × 2.6 in)
		100,000,000,000ℳ︁	26 Oct 1923	174 mm × 86 mm (6.9 in × 3.4 in)
	Tenth^[21]	1,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	1 Nov 1923	137 mm × 65 mm (5.4 in × 2.6 in)
		5,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	1 Nov 1923	168 mm × 86 mm (6.6 in × 3.4 in)
		10,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	1 Nov 1923	171 mm × 86 mm (6.7 in × 3.4 in)
		10,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	1 Nov 1923	120 mm × 82 mm (4.7 in × 3.2 in)
	Eleventh^[22]	100,000,000,000ℳ︁	5 Nov 1923	135 mm × 65 mm (5.3 in × 2.6 in)
		1,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	5 Nov 1923	143 mm × 86 mm (5.6 in × 3.4 in)
		2,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	5 Nov 1923	120 mm × 71 mm (4.7 in × 2.8 in)
		5,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	7 Nov 1923	165 mm × 86 mm (6.5 in × 3.4 in)
1924	First^[22]	10,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	1 Feb 1924	140 mm × 72 mm (5.5 in × 2.8 in)
		20,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	5 Feb 1924	Portrait of a woman based on Portrait of a young Venetian woman by Albrecht Dürer 160 mm × 95 mm (6.3 in × 3.7 in)
		50,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	10 Feb 1924	Jakob Muffel based on Portrait of Jakob Muffel by Albrecht Dürer 175 mm × 95 mm (6.9 in × 3.7 in)
		100,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	15 Feb 1924	Portrait of Willibald Pirckheimer based on a painting by Albrecht Dürer 180 mm × 95 mm (7.1 in × 3.7 in)
	Second^[23]	5,000,000,000,000ℳ︁	15 Mar 1924	120 mm × 72 mm (4.7 in × 2.8 in)

Danzig

The Danziger Privat Actien-Bank (opened 1856) was the first bank established in Danzig.^[24] They issued two series of notes denominated in thalers (1857 and 1862–73) prior to issuing the mark (1875, 1882, 1887).^[25] These mark issues are extremely rare.^[25] The Ostbank fur Handel and Gewerbe opened 16 March 1857, and by 1911 two additional banks (the Imperial Bank of Germany and the Norddeutsche Credit-Anstalt) were in operation.^[26]

Issuance of the Danzig Papiermark

The Papiermark was issued by Danzig from 1914 to 1923.^[27] Five series were issued during World War I by the City Council (1914, 1916, 1918 first and second issue, and 1919).^[28] Denominations ranged from 10₰ to 20ℳ︁.^[28] The Free City of Danzig municipal senate issued an additional four post-World War I series of notes (1922, 1923 First issue, 1923 Provisional issue, and 1923 Inflation issue).^[29] The 1922 issue (31 October 1922) was denominated in 100ℳ︁, 500ℳ︁, and 1,000ℳ︁ notes.^[30] The denominations for the 1923 issue were 1,000ℳ︁ (15 March 1923), and 10,000ℳ︁ and 50,000ℳ︁ notes (20 March 1923).^[31] The 1923 provisional issue reused earlier notes with a large red stamp indicating the new (and higher) denominations of 1 million-ℳ︁ (8 August 1923) and 5 million-ℳ︁ (15 October 1923) mark.^[32] The last series of Danzig mark was the 1923 inflation issue of 1 million-ℳ︁ (8 August 1923), 10 million-ℳ︁ (31 August 1923), 100 million-ℳ︁ (22 September 1923), 500 million-ℳ︁ (26 September 1923), 5 billion-ℳ︁ and 10 billion-ℳ︁ notes (11 October 1923).^[33] The Danzig mark was replaced by the Danzig gulden, first issued by the Danzig Central Finance Department on 22 October 1923.^[33]

Papiermark of Danzig
Issue	Value	Image
1914 Emergency	50₰
	1ℳ︁
	2ℳ︁
	3ℳ︁
1916	10₰
1916	50₰
1918 First	5ℳ︁
1918 First	20ℳ︁
1918 Second	50₰
1918 Second	20ℳ︁
1919	50₰
1922	100ℳ︁
	500ℳ︁
	1,000ℳ︁
1923 First	1,000ℳ︁
	10,000ℳ︁
	10,000ℳ︁
	50,000ℳ︁
1923 Provisional	1,000,000ℳ︁
1923 Provisional	5,000,000ℳ︁
1923 Inflation	1,000,000ℳ︁
	10,000,000ℳ︁
	100,000,000ℳ︁
	500,000,000ℳ︁
	5,000,000,000ℳ︁
	10,000,000,000ℳ︁

Note on numeration

Notes

Citations

References

External links

Preceded by: Goldmark	Currency of Germany 1914 – 1923	Succeeded by: Rentenmark Reason: inflation Ratio: 1 Rentenmark = 1,000,000,000 Papiermark, and 4.2 Rentenmark = US$1

Currencies named mark or similar

Currencies named mark or similar
Circulating	Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark (konvertibilna marka, конвертибилна марка)
Defunct	AM-Mark Deutsche Mark East German mark Estonian mark Finnish markka German mark German ostmark German Papiermark German Reichsmark German Rentenmark German South West African Mark Hamburg mark Lodz Ghetto mark New Guinean mark Polish marka Saar mark South West African mark
As a denomination	Merk Scots