German ostmark

German ostmark
Ostmark  (de) ostmarka  (pl) idamark  (et) остмарка (ru)
Central bank	Darlehnskasse, Kowno
Date of introduction	4 April 1918
Official user(s)	Ober Ost Duchy of Courland and Semigallia United Baltic Duchy
Unofficial user(s)	Lithuania (1918–22) Estonia (1918–19)
Subunit
1/100	pfennig  (de) fenig, fenigów  (pl) feniņš  (lv)
Symbol	ℳ
Plural	The language(s) of this currency belong(s) to the Slavic languages. There is more than one way to construct plural forms.
Banknotes	½, 1, 2, 5, 20, 50, 100, 1000 ℳ
Circulated alongside [[German ostruble|German Ostruble]], with 2 Ostmarken = 1 Ostruble

Ostmark ( pronunciation ) is the name given to a currency denominated in Mark which was issued by Germany in 1918 for use in a part of the eastern areas under German control at that time, the Ober Ost area. The currency consisted of paper money issued on 4 April 1918 by the Darlehnskasse in Kowno (Kaunas) and was equal to the [[German Papiermark|German Papiermark]]. The Ostmark circulated alongside the Russian ruble and the Ostruble, with two Ostmark equal to one Ostruble.

Denominations

1,000 Ostmark from Lithuania, 1918

The denominations available were:

• ½ Mark;
• 1 Mark;
• 2 Mark;
• 5 Mark;
• 20 Mark;
• 50 Mark;
• 100 Mark;
• 1000 Mark.

The reverse sides of the Darlehnskassenscheine carry a warning against forging banknotes in German, Latvian and Lithuanian.

Aftermath

The Ostmark and Ostruble continued to circulate in Lithuania from the end of World War I until 1 October 1922, when they were replaced by the litas. The names skatikas and auksinas were used for Pfennig and Mark, for example, on postage stamps. The reason for the replacement was the link to the Papiermark, which already suffered from inflation (and would spiral into hyperinflation in 1923). The litas was pegged to the US$.

Bibliography

• Gerhard Hahne, Die Inflation der Markwährungen und das postalische Geschehen im litauisch-polnischen Raum, Forschungsgemeinschaft Litauen im Bund Deutscher Philatelisten e.V., Uetze, (1996) (German)
• N. Jakimovs and V. Marcilger, The Postal and Monetary History of Latvia 1918–1945, own book, 1991, pp. 14-13 - 14-15.

External links

• German banknotes, a.o. Ostrubles and Ostmarks.