German mark (1871)

German mark
Mark (German)
German 1000 mark banknote from 19101 mark coin from 1905
Unit
PluralMark
Symbolℳ︁
Denominations
Subunit
1100Pfennig
Plural
PfennigPfennig
Symbol
Pfennig
Banknotes5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 1000 Mark
Coins1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25 Pfennig
12, 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20 Mark
Demographics
User(s) German Empire
German colonial empire
Issuance
Central bankReichsbank
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The German mark (German: Goldmark [ˈɡɔltmaʁk] ; sign: ℳ︁) was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the gold standard from 1871 to 1914, but like most nations during World War I, the German Empire removed the gold backing in August 1914, and gold[1] coins ceased to circulate.

After the fall of the Empire due to the November Revolution of 1918, the mark was succeeded by the Weimar Republic's mark, derisively referred to as the Papiermark (lit.'Paper mark') due to hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic from 1918 to 1923.

  1. ^ <Krause>