West Germany - Bundesbank (1957 - 2001)
On 1 August 1957 the Deutsche Bundesbank replaced the Bank deutscher Länder as central bank for West Germany (FRG). It became the authority to issue the banknotes for the country. The banknotes continued to be denominated in Deutsche Mark.
Initially the banknotes issued by the Bank deutscher Länder continued to be valid and indeed were printed and issued for some time. But the Bundesbank aimed to replace these bills as soon as possible with its own banknotes. The planning, design and production of these new notes, however, took several years to complete.
The Bundesbank decided to create the new series with bills of the following denominations: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 DM. The design of the new banknotes should following in many aspects the traditions introduced by the Reichsbank and each of the denominations should show a specific portrait of a historic German personality.
The successful monetary policy of the Bundesbank caused the Deutsche Mark to be a stable and trusted currency until its replacement by the Euro on 1 January 2002. All bills can still be exchanged into Euro at the Bundesbank at a rate of 1.95583 DM for 1 Euro. The Bundesbank promisses to carry out this exchange infinitely. The collector's value of any of these bills is therefore at least as much as half of it's face value in Euro (e.g. 10 DM has at least a value of about 5 Euros).
Find out more about the historical background of the West German post-war period.
Original Issues of the Bundesbank
5 Deutsche Mark 1960
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1960.
(Ro 262)
10 Deutsche Mark 1960
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1960.
(Ro 263)
20 Deutsche Mark 1960
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1960.
(Ro 264)
50 Deutsche Mark 1960
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1960.
(Ro 265)
100 Deutsche Mark 1960
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1960.
(Ro 266)
500 Deutsche Mark 1960
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1960.
(Ro 267)
1,000 Deutsche Mark 1960
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1960.
(Ro 268)
5 Deutsche Mark 1970
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1970.
(Ro 269)
10 Deutsche Mark 1970
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1970.
(Ro 270)
20 Deutsche Mark 1970
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1970.
(Ro 271)
50 Deutsche Mark 1970
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1970.
(Ro 272)
100 Deutsche Mark 1970
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1970.
(Ro 273)
500 Deutsche Mark 1970
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1970.
(Ro 274)
10 Deutsche Mark 1977
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 June 1977.
(Ro 275)
20 Deutsche Mark 1977
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 June 1977.
(Ro 276)
50 Deutsche Mark 1977
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 June 1977.
(Ro 277)
100 Deutsche Mark 1977
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 June 1977.
(Ro 278)
500 Deutsche Mark 1977
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 June 1977.
(Ro 279)
1,000 Deutsche Mark 1977
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 June 1977.
(Ro 280)
10 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 281)
20 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 282)
50 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 283)
100 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 284)
5 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 285)
10 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 286)
20 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 287)
50 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 288)
100 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 289)
500 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 290)
1,000 Deutsche Mark 1980
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1980.
(Ro 291)
Improved Issues of the Bundesbank
The design of German banknotes remained unchanged during the 1960s, 70's and 80's. During this period, counterfeit technology made significant advances. So, in the late 1980s, the Bundesbank decided to issue a new series of Deutsche Mark banknotes. The colours for each denomination remained unchanged from the previous series. The bills were, however, completely redesigned. A 200 DM denomiation was introduced, too. .
The bills were produced with new security features. These included: a windowed security-thread (with the notes denomination in microprinting), watermark, micro-printing, intaglio-printing (viewing angle dependend visibility as well as a braille representation of the notes denomination), colour-shifting ink (on the 500 and 1000 DM denominations), a see-through register and UV-visible security features.
With the advance of forgery technology, the Bundesbank decided to introduce additional security features on the most important denominations (50, 100, and 200 DM) as of 1996. These were a hologram foil in the center of the note's front, a matted printing on the note's right obverse, showing its denomination, and th e EURion constellation (rings and patters that help software to detect banknotes) on the note's reverse. Furthermore, the colors were slightly changed to pastel to further hamper counterfeing.
The DM notes were valid till 31 December 2001, after which date they were replaced by the common European currency.
10 Deutsche Mark 1989
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1989.
(Ro 292)
50 Deutsche Mark 1989
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1989.
(Ro 293)
100 Deutsche Mark 1989
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1989.
(Ro 294)
200 Deutsche Mark 1989
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1989.
(Ro 295)
5 Deutsche Mark 1991
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 August 1991.
(Ro 296)
10 Deutsche Mark 1991
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 August 1991.
(Ro 297)
20 Deutsche Mark 1991
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 August 1991.
(Ro 298)
50 Deutsche Mark 1991
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 August 1991.
(Ro 299)
100 Deutsche Mark 1991
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 August 1991.
(Ro 300)
500 Deutsche Mark 1991
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 August 1991.
(Ro 301)
1,000 Deutsche Mark 1991
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 August 1991.
(Ro 302)
10 Deutsche Mark 1993
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 October 1993.
(Ro 303)
20 Deutsche Mark 1993
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 October 1993.
(Ro 304)
50 Deutsche Mark 1993
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 October 1993.
(Ro 305)
100 Deutsche Mark 1993
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 October 1993.
(Ro 306)
500 Deutsche Mark 1993
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 October 1993.
(Ro 307)
1,000 Deutsche Mark 1993
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 October 1993.
(Ro 308)
50 Deutsche Mark 1996
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1993.
(Ro 309)
100 Deutsche Mark 1996
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1993.
(Ro 310)
200 Deutsche Mark 1996
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 2 January 1996.
(Ro 311)
10 Deutsche Mark 1999
This note was issued by Bundesbank Frankfurt. It is dated 1 September 1999.
(Ro 312)
Replacement banknote 1963
In 1963 banknotes were produced as a replacement currency for West Germany and West Berlin (separate series). These notes had never been issued. The series carries the name "BBk II" and was produced in denominations from 5 DM to 100 DM. These notes were thought to be used in a situation of crisis or of uncontrollable forgery, to replace the existing currency and secure the economy.
5 Deutsche Mark 1963
This note was produced 1963 for the Deutsche Bundesbank in Frankfurt.
Bundeskassenscheine 1967
The following bills were produced in 1967 to prepare for a possible shortage of coins in case of emergency. Produced
the heights of the cold war these bills were stored at the Bundesbank. They were never in use and were mostly
destroyed in 1990. Existing bills had been stolen from the storage before.
5 Pfennig 1967
This note was produced 1967 for the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany.
(Ro 313)
10 Pfennig 1967
This note was produced 1967 for the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany.
(Ro 314)
50 Pfennig 1967
This note was produced 1967 for the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany.
(Ro 315)
1 Deutsche Mark 1967
This note was produced 1967 for the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany.
(Ro 316)
2 Deutsche Mark 1967
This note was produced 1967 for the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany.
(Ro 317)
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