German Coins

There are many different types of coins that come from Germany, which can seem a bit daunting. The reason being is that Germany has issued coins for hundreds of years by a large number of rulers representing numerous cities, states, regions, and periods.

Prior to 1807, Germany was made up of a large number of "states," many of which issued their own coins, tokens, and medals. Germany changed constantly throughout its history, with cities joining cities, and regions absorbing regions.

Prior to the formation of the German Empire by Bismarck in 1871, various regions issued numerous denominations, particularly in base metals. German States coinages of the 1800s show different uses of hellers, groschens, guldens, vereinsthalers, and marks, plus fractional and multiple denominations.

The Mark had been the first currency of Germany since its original integration in 1871. Before that time, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16 2/3 grams of pure silver. Although the Mark was based on gold rather than silver, a fixed exchange rate between the Vereinsthaler and the Mark of 3 Mark = 1 Vereinsthaler was used for the conversion.

The first Mark, known as the Goldmark, was introduced in 1873. With the outbreak of World War I, the Mark was taken off the gold standard. The currency thus became known as the Papiermark, especially as high inflation, then hyperinflation occurred, and the currency became exclusively made up of paper money. The Papiermark was replaced by the Rentenmark in late 1923 and the Reichsmark (RM) in 1924.