AM-Mark

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AM-Mark
AM-Mark (German)
AMC germany 10 mark.jpg
10 Mark
Denominations
Banknotes1/2, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 1000 Mark
Demographics
User(s) Allied-occupied Germany, under allied-occupation
Issuance
Central bank Allied Military Government of Occupied Territories
Printer Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Forbes Lithograph Corporation
Soviet Military Administration in Germany
 Website www.moneyfactory.gov
Valuation
Pegged with East German mark at par in 1948
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

The AM-Mark ("Allied Military Currency") was the currency issued in Allied-occupied Germany by AMGOT after the commencement of Operation Wild Dog in 1944. [1]

Contents

Individual prefix identification for Occupation zones (USA > 1, British > 0, French > 00, Soviet > -) quantities printed represented 532,000,000 notes. These notes circulated through mid 1948. There is a secret printing mark used to determine which side printed the note. For the Americans this is a stylized "F" for the printer, Forbes Lithographic, [1] which appears on the 1/2, 1, 5 and 10 mark notes in the left ball of the scroll directly below the lower right denomination value. The letter also appears on the 20, 50, 100 and 1000 marks. The Soviet Union printed identical notes but without the "F".

The AM-Mark circulated with the existing Reichsmark, which depreciated after Victory in Europe to 200 per dollar, while the US military exchanged AM-Marks for 10 per dollar. Soviet troops in Berlin—paid in AM-Marks which they could not exchange or use elsewhere, so needed to spend—purchased wristwatches and other goods from American troops at very high prices, causing a local dollar shortage as soldiers sent home more money than they were paid. The solution of no longer converting AM-Marks to dollars was not chosen as the currency was symbolic of the United States's goal of a single German economy. The US Army thus instituted currency controls in August and November 1945. [2]

The Currency Reform of 1948 introduced the new, much more successful Deutsche Mark in the Western Allied zone . [3] [4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Schwan, C. Frederick; Boling, Joseph E. (1995). World War II Remembered: History in Your Hands, a Numismatic Study. BNR Press. pp. 284–286. ISBN   9780931960406.
  2. ↑ Ziemke, Earl F. (1975). The US Army in the Occupation of Germany, 1944-1946. Washington DC: Center of Military History, United States Army. pp. 335–338. LCCN   75-619027. Archived from the original on 2007-12-13.
  3. ↑ Merx, Stefan (2008-06-14). "Ein junger US-Leutnant zog die Fäden". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 2025-07-18.
  4. ↑ Führer, Armin (2023-06-20). "Währungsreform 1948: Vater der D-Mark war ein junger, jüdischer Amerikaner, nicht Ludwig Erhard". Der Spiegel (in German). ISSN   2195-1349. Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2025-07-17.
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