The euro was introduced almost 18 years ago, but apparently not all people have completely said goodbye to the D-Mark. According to the Deutsche Bundesbank, notes and coins with a total value of DM 12.46 billion (EUR 6.37 billion) had still not been exchanged until the end of November.
According to this, 5.83 billion marks are accounted for by banknotes and 6.63 billion marks by coins. This corresponds to 165 million banknotes and more than 23 billion coins.
Most of the holdings, however, were traded in with the introduction of euro cash in early 2002. D-marks worth 70 to 90 million marks are now submitted to the Bundesbank each year - and the trend is falling.
Large banknotes in particular - 100, 200, 500 and 1000 - are still in circulation. So far, notes worth 3.55 billion marks have not yet been returned, since these large denominations were often used to store value.
Again and again D-Mark treasures are discovered by accident, hidden in drawers, basements, books or in the garden. Unlike in many other euro countries, the old notes and coins can be exchanged indefinitely at the Bundesbank. The exchange rate has remained unchanged since the introduction of the euro: You can get a euro for 1.95583 D-Mark.
