Marriage disaster due to 21 D-Marks: Bundesbank got here as an arbitrator | EUROtoday

SDisputes in relationships are sometimes sparked by little issues. However, the Bundesbank not often comes into play as an arbitrator: the truth that her husband despatched 20.78 D-Marks to the Bundesbank for trade with out her consent was so annoying to a spouse that the husband rushed to get them even earlier than the cash arrived on the Bundesbank department in Mainz Requested return. “Fortunately, the colleagues at the Mainz branch recognized the postal item and returned it immediately. Hopefully we were able to defuse the conflict a little,” mentioned Bundesbank board member Burkhard Balz in an interview with the German Press Agency in Frankfurt.

The Deutsche Bundesbank was capable of efficiently trade previous notes and cash for euros in additional than 91,000 circumstances this 12 months. A great 53 million deutschmarks, the equal of greater than 27 million euros, have been raised from January to the top of November. This signifies that the quantity elevated for the second time in a row. “We expect that a lot of German marks will be exchanged in the next few years,” mentioned Balz. “Especially when cleaning up inherited houses and apartments, deutschmarks are likely to be found.”

Love for money is repeatedly expressed in surveys

Even nearly 22 years after the introduction of euro money on the flip of the 12 months 2001/2002, D-Mark notes and cash value billions haven’t but been returned. According to the Bundesbank, the overall worth nonetheless excellent on the finish of November 2023 was nearly 12.2 billion German marks (round 6.24 billion euros).

“I am always impressed by how much D-Mark has not yet found its way back to the Bundesbank, even in the third decade after the national currency was replaced by the euro,” mentioned Balz. Some of the previous banknotes and cash might by no means be exchanged, for instance as a result of they’re within the palms of collectors. The Bundesbank additionally suspects there are important holdings overseas, because the D-Mark was fashionable worldwide as a reserve foreign money.

Germans’ love of money is repeatedly expressed in surveys. However, a handwritten declaration of affection on a banknote could be uncommon: “My little mouse, I just wanted to tell you how much I miss you. Your darling.” This is what the writer – the Bundesbank suspects it was a person – wrote on a five-D-mark word that discovered its approach to the central financial institution this 12 months.

Banknotes with a worth of round 5.7 billion marks and cash with a quantity of round 6.6 billion marks have nonetheless not been returned. Anyone who nonetheless has previous shares of D-Marks or finds them by probability can submit them for trade freed from cost in any respect 31 Bundesbank branches or by put up on the Bundesbank department in Mainz. The trade charge was fastened with the introduction of the euro: for 1.95583 D-Mark you get one euro.