Mark, East German

(DM-Ost), the mark of the Deutsche Notenbank, the state bank of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It equals 100 pfennigs. The East German mark was created in 1948. The mark was substituted for currencies that had circulated throughout Germany: the reichsmark, Renten-mark, and the mark of the Allied Control Council, which had circulated in East Germany from May 1945 until June 1948. The established gold content of the GDR mark in 1953 was 0.399902 g of pure gold. According to the rate of exchange of the Gosbank (State Bank) of the USSR on January 1,1974, 100 marks equaled 40 rubles 50 kopeks.