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| German banknotes 50 Rentenmark |
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| 50 German Rentenmark |
German currency 50 Rentenmark banknote of 1934 Deutsche Rentenbank
German banknotes, German mark banknotes, Deutsche Mark, German paper money, German bank notes, Germany banknotes, Germany paper money, Germany bank notes, German currency, German East African banknotes, German Rentenmark.Obverse: Portrait of Freiherr vom Stein.
Deutsche Rentenbank
The Deutschen Rentenbank was a bank established in Germany by a regulation of 15 October 1923 as a state-owned monetary authority authorised to issue Rentenmark currency notes following the collapse of the private Reichsbank's Papiermark currency. The Rentenbank reserves consisted of mortgages against leading industrial properties and the German public accepted these reserves as being sound. This meant that the monetary crisis caused by the public's lack of confidence in the currency of the Reichsbank waned and the hyperinflation ceased. The Rentenmarks continued to be accepted as currency in Germany until 1947.
German Rentenmark
The Rentenmark RM was a currency issued on 15 November 1923 to stop the hyperinflation of 1922 and 1923 in Germany. It was subdivided into 100 Rentenpfennig. The Rentenmark replaced the Papiermark. Because of the economic crisis in Germany after World War I, there was no gold available to back the currency. Therefore the Deutschen Rentenbank, which issued the Rentenmark, mortgaged land and industrial goods worth 3.2 billion Rentenmark to back the new currency. The Rentenmark was introduced at a rate of one Rentenmark to equal one trillion old marks, with an exchange rate of one United States dollar to equal 4.2 Rentenmarks.
The Act creating the Rentenmark backed the currency by means of twice yearly payments on property, due in April and October, payable for five years. Although the Rentenmark was not initially legal tender, it was accepted by the population and its value was relatively stable. The Act prohibited the recently privatised Reichsbank from continuing to discount bills and the inflation of the Papiermark immediately stopped. The Reichsmark became the new legal tender on 30 August 1924, equal in value to the Rentenmark.
The monetary policy spearheaded by Hjalmar Schacht—the Central Banker—together with the fiscal policy of German Chancellor Gustav Stresemann and Finance Minister Hans Luther brought the inflation in Germany to an end.
The Rentenbank continued to exist after 1924 and the notes and coins continued to circulate. The last Rentenmark notes were valid until 1948.
The first issue of banknotes was dated 1 November 1923 and was in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Rentenmark. Later issues of notes were 10 and 50 Rentenmark (1925), 5 Rentenmark (1926), 50 Rentenmark (1934) and 1 and 2 Rentenmark and dated 1937.
Coins were issued dated 1923, 1924 and 1925 in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 50 Rentenpfennig. Only small numbers of Rentenpfennig coins were produced in 1925. A few 1 Rentenpfennig coins were struck dated 1929. The 1 and 2 Rentenpfennig were minted in bronze, with the 5, 10, and 50 Rentenpfennig coins in aluminium-bronze. These coins had the same design features and motifs as coins of the Reichsmark from the Weimar and early Third Reich periods.
Heinrich Friedrich Karl Reichsfreiherr vom und zum Stein (25 October 1757 – 29 June 1831), commonly known as Baron vom Stein, was a Prussian statesman who introduced the Prussian reforms that paved the way for the unification of Germany. He promoted the abolition of serfdom, with indemnification to territorial lords; subjection of the nobles to manorial imposts; and the establishment of a modern municipal system.
After it became known that he had written a letter in which he criticized Napoleon, Stein was obliged to resign which he did on 24 November 1808, and retired to the Austrian Empire, from which he was summoned to the Russian Empire by Tsar Alexander I in 1812. After the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, Stein became head of the council for the administration of the re-conquered German countries.