Rentenmark

The rentenmark was a currency of German transition , adopted to face the Inflation between 1919 and 1923.

It was used like Monnaie fiduciary and distributed in currency and small cuts between October 1923 and on November 15th, 1923 by the rentenbank of Germany. Foreign exchange rate with the Mark paper was fixed at 1 per 1000 billion, at one moment (November 1923) where the course of the currencies gave 4200 billion marks paper = 1 US Dollar, which corresponded to the parity of pre-war period (1 mark-but = 1 Dollar-but).

At all events, this initiative, across the fact that it removed twelve zeros on banknotes, created a currency, the rentenmark, covered to the amount of 3,2 billion mark-but by mortgages and options on agriculture, industry and the trade.

The rentenmark was not a legal tender, in the sense that there was no obligation to accept it like payment; but the population accepted it and this consensus put a term at inflation: one often speaks for this reason about “miracle” about the rentenmark.

The Reichsmark was introduced on August 30th, 1924 parallel to the use of the rentenmark. The parity was of 1 reichsmark for 1 rentenmark. As opposed to what affirm several books and reviews, Reichsmark did not replace Rentenmark, the payments could be done in the two currencies. The true difference was due to the cover of the two currencies:

the rentenmark was covered by the Hypothèque ( Grundschuld ), i.e. any contractor, any owner of factory, movable or real goods mortgaged was to yield 6% of his goods to the state. This transfer “in power” covered the rentenmark.
the reichsmark was covered in a traditional way, by the public goods, namely gold and coal the national reserves.

Putting into circulation of the reichsmark in any case made disappear the term from “rentenmark” of all the instruments.

The rentenbank persisted after 1924 and the rentenmark and rentenpfennig remained in circulation. The last tickets of rentenmark (those of 1 and 2 rentenmark) are dated January 30th, 1937; they were abandoned at the time of the entry in war of England on September 5th, 1939 but were convertible until 1948.

As the rentenmark and the reichsmark had the same abbreviation, namely “RM”, there was no reason to remove the rentenmark with the profit of the reichsmark. One was startled even with the idea to cause the panic of the middle-class men in their reminding the hyperinflation of the years 1918−1923.

A theoretical anticipation, ever put in practice, rentenmark to fight inflation, were the roggenmark , that one would have covered with the reserves of grains (cereals), because at the end of the Traité of Versailles, Germany did not have practically any more a Réserves of gold. This project however was given up, which caused as from November 1923 putting into circulation in last spring of the first rentenmark and rentenpfennig.

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