TWO DECADES LATER, BILLIONS OF GERMAN MARKS STILL EXIST SOMEWHERE

(Patria) - This year, the Bundesbank exchanged old German mark banknotes and coins for euros in more than 91,000 cases. From January to the end of November, slightly more than 53 million German marks were collected, which is more than 27 million euros. This means that the amount of marks exchanged for euros has increased for the second time in a row.

- We expect that many German marks will be exchanged in the coming years as well - said Bundesbank board member Burkhard Balz in an interview with the German news agency dpa.

Even nearly 22 years after the introduction of the euro (January 2002), billions of German marks have still not been returned. According to the Bundesbank, at the end of November 2023, there were still just under 12.2 billion marks somewhere, which is about 6.24 billion euros. This concerns banknotes worth about 5.7 billion marks and coins worth about 6.6 billion marks.

- I am always impressed by how many German marks have not yet been returned to the Bundesbank, even in the third decade after the national currency was replaced by the euro - says Balz.

Germany is one of six eurozone member states where the old national currency can still be exchanged for euros indefinitely. This is also possible in Austria, Ireland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

Anyone who still has old German marks can exchange them: for free, at 31 Bundesbank branches, or by mail through the Bundesbank branch in Mainz. The exchange rate was fixed at the introduction of the euro: for 1.95583 German marks, you get one euro.

Some of the old banknotes and coins will probably never be exchanged – for example, because they are in collectors' collections. The Bundesbank also assumes that significant amounts of money are located abroad, as the German mark was popular worldwide as a stable currency, reports Deutsche Welle.