German Inflation of 1923
Before the First World War approximately four Reichsmark were equal to one U.S. Dollar. The following are quotations of how many Reichsmark it took to buy one US dollar
|
Date
|
Reichmarks/dollar
|
| July 1914 |
4.2 |
| January 1919 | 8.9 |
| July 1919 | 14 |
| January 1920 | 64.8 |
| July 1920 | 39.5 |
| January 1921 | 64.9 |
| July 1921 | 76.7 |
| January 1922 | 191.8 |
| July 1922 | 493.2 |
| January 1923 | 17,972 |
| July 1923 | 353,412 |
| August 1923 | 4,620,455 |
| September 1923 | 98,860,000 |
| October 1923 | 25,260,208,000 |
| 15. November | 4,200,000,000,000 |
In 1910, this 5000 Reichsmark bank note would have been worth approximately $1,250, by 1923 it had no negotiable value.
Some representative prices in June, 1923, BEFORE the explosion of inflation
| Commodity | Price in RM |
| 500 grams beef | 10,000 |
| 500 gr. butter | 14,000 |
| 500 gr. coffee | 30,000 |
| 500 gr. sugar | 1,500 |
| 500 gr. flour | 2,300 |
This is a 20 million Mark note. In 1910, there would have been no bank note printed for this large a sum of money. (Approximately $5 million) When it was issued in July 1923, its value would have been about $57. By August it had declined to $4.32 and by September to aboutv $0.20. By October it was worthless
This is a 50 million Mark note on which there was not even any printing on the back. When it was issued on 25. July, its value was less than $140. When withdrawn from circulation in November it was worthless.
The government kept printing banknotes in ever larger denominations. This is a 500 million Mark note, but it when it was withdrawn from circulation in November its value was approximately
$.000,119
Close to return to course outline.