Mark Money

Mark (money), former monetary unit of Germany, from a Norse term for a unit of measure that probably dates as far back as the 3rd century ad. It was employed as a monetary unit by the Goths and then the Germans.

It was given a uniform value (0.35842 metric grains of fine gold) throughout the German Empire in 1873. After a period of inflation it was again stabilized as the reichsmark in 1924. It was reestablished (1948) as the deutsche mark in West Germany and the ostmark in East Germany.

When Germany unified in 1990, the deutsche mark, divided into 100 pfennige, became the national monetary unit. The deutsche mark was replaced by the euro, the monetary unit of the European Union (EU), on January 1, 2002.