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5 Reichsmark Konversionskasse
| Issuer | |
|---|---|
| Year | 1933 |
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| Value | 5 Marks (5 RM) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Schuldschein der Konversionskasse für deutsche Auslandsschulden zu Berlin, aus gegeben auf Grund des § 4 ihrer Satzung. Fünf Reichsmark schuldet die Konversionskasse für deutsche Auslandsschulden dem Inhaber dieses Schuldscheins. Die Einlösung erfolgt nach § 4 der Satzung der Konversionskasse. Berlin, den 28 August 1933 Konversionskasse für deutsche Auslandsschulden (Translation: Promissory note from the Conversion Fund for German Foreign Debts in Berlin issued on the basis of § 4 of their statutes. Five Reichsmarks owed by the Conversion Fund for German Foreign Debts to the owner of this promissory note. Redemption is executed according to § 4 of the statutes of the Conversion Fund. Berlin, August 28, 1933 Conversion Fund for German Foreign Debts) |
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| Reverse lettering | Die Konversionskasse für deutsche Auslandsschulden ist durch § 2 des Gesetzes über Zahlungsverbindlichkeiten gegenüber dem Ausland vom 9. Juni 1933 gegründet. § 4 ihrer Satzung lautet: „Die Kasse darf über die bei ihr eingezahlten Beträge auf Reichsmark lautende unverzinsliche Schuld- scheine ausstellen. Die Bestimmungen über die Einlösung der Schuldscheine trifft die Reichsbank“. (Translation: The Conversion Fund for German Foreign Debts is established by § 2 of the Law on Payment Liabilities Established Abroad on June 9, 1933. § 4 of the statute reads: „The Fund may use the funds deposited with it to issue interest-free promissory notes denominated in Reichsmarks. Provisions for the redemption of promissory notes is the responsibility of the Reichsbank“.) |
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| Comments |
The Konversionskasse notes were not conventional currency. They were issued specifically to pay foreign creditors of German debtors who, under exchange controls introduced in 1931, could no longer transfer funds out of the country. A foreign bondholder receiving interest on a German obligation would be paid in these scrip certificates instead of hard currency, which could then theoretically be sold on secondary markets — typically at a steep discount.
The scheme let the Reich service foreign debt on paper while conserving foreign exchange. Creditors understood the arrangement poorly at first; by the mid-1930s the discount on Konversionskasse paper had become a reliable indicator of how seriously international markets regarded German financial promises.