Your Guide to Old Coins from Germany
Posted by: Ian • 5 Nov 2025
Found a handful of old coins from Germany? Those little metal discs are more than just spare change from a long-ago holiday; they're tangible links to a rich and often turbulent history. From the early Pfennigs of the German Empire to the famously stable Deutsche Marks, every coin has a story to tell about unification, conflict, and economic rebirth.
A Journey Through German Coinage History
Holding an old German coin is like holding a miniature historical document. Germany's path to becoming a single nation was a long one, marked by distinct regional powers, and you can see this story play out perfectly in its currency. Before the German Empire finally formed in 1871, the area was a patchwork quilt of different states, kingdoms, and free cities, all minting their own unique money.
This fragmentation meant that traders and travellers had to deal with a dizzying array of coins, each with its own weight, purity, and design. A coin from Prussia was valued differently from one from Bavaria or Saxony. This chaotic monetary landscape reflected the decentralised nature of the Holy Roman Empire and, later, the German Confederation. You can learn more by exploring our detailed guide to antique German currency.
The Era of Unification and Empire
The creation of the German Empire in 1871 was a game-changer, and it led to a single, unified currency: the Mark. Divided into 100 Pfennigs, these new coins were a symbol of national pride and growing economic might. Designs often featured the powerful imperial eagle, the emblem of the new nation, along with portraits of emperors like Wilhelm I.
This standardisation was a huge step forward. It simplified trade and helped forge a common national identity among people who had long seen themselves as Prussians, Bavarians, or Saxons. Coins from this period, minted from the late 19th century until the end of World War I, speak of Germany's industrial boom and its ambitions on the world stage.
Tumultuous Times and Currency Changes
The 20th century threw Germany into a period of dramatic upheaval, and its coinage tells the tale vividly. The Weimar Republic, founded after the First World War, had to fight a losing battle with hyperinflation so extreme that money became virtually worthless overnight. This crisis led to coins being issued in absurdly high denominations before the currency system collapsed and was replaced by the more stable Rentenmark and later the Reichsmark.
Coins from the interwar years are a stark reminder of just how fragile an economy can be. They tell a human story not just of monetary policy, but of a society pushed to its limits and finding the resilience to rebuild.
After the Second World War, Germany's division into East and West led to two separate currencies. West Germany introduced the Deutsche Mark (DM), which quickly became the symbol of its "economic miracle." At the same time, East Germany issued its own Mark.
When the Berlin Wall fell, the Deutsche Mark was adopted across the entire country in 1990—a monetary union that paved the way for political reunification. The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge actually has a fascinating collection documenting various medieval German coins, and you can even explore their sales catalogues for a deeper dive.
These distinct eras have given us a fascinating variety of old coins from Germany, each with a unique background. Figuring out which one you have is the first step to discovering its real value.
How To Identify Your Old German Coins
So, you've stumbled upon a handful of old coins from Germany and have no idea where to begin. Don't worry—you don't need to be a seasoned coin expert to figure out what you're holding. Identifying German coins is a bit like playing detective; you just need to know which clues to look for. Key details like dates, images, and tiny letters stamped onto the coin can tell you its whole story.
The first things to look for on any coin are the date and any inscriptions. The date instantly places the coin in a specific historical period, whether it's from the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, or the post-war era. Look out for phrases like "Deutsches Reich" (German Empire) or "Bundesrepublik Deutschland" (Federal Republic of Germany). These are your first big signposts, helping you narrow down the period right away.
This infographic lays out the main stages of German money, from its fragmented early days right through to the unified Deutsche Mark.
As you can see, German coinage became more and more unified over time, which really mirrors the country's own journey towards becoming a single nation.
To make things a bit easier, here’s a quick reference table to help you match your coin's features to the correct era.
Common German Coin Eras and Key Identifiers
| Era | Currency | Common Denominations | Key Visuals or Inscriptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| German Empire (1871-1918) | Goldmark / Mark | Pfennig, Mark | Imperial Eagle, portraits of emperors, "Deutsches Reich" |
| Weimar Republic (1919-1933) | Papiermark / Rentenmark / Reichsmark | Pfennig, Mark | Weimar Eagle (simpler design), oak leaves, "Deutsches Reich" |
| Third Reich (1933-1945) | Reichsmark | Reichspfennig, Reichsmark | Eagle with swastika, "Deutsches Reich" |
| Allied Occupation (1948-1949) | Deutsche Mark (West), Mark (East) | Pfennig, Mark | Simple designs, like oak leaves or wheat stalks |
| West Germany (FRG, 1949-1990) | Deutsche Mark | Pfennig, Deutsche Mark | Oak branch, "Bundesrepublik Deutschland" |
| East Germany (GDR, 1949-1990) | Mark der DDR | Pfennig, Mark | Hammer and compass, "Deutsche Demokratische Republik" |
This table should give you a solid starting point for figuring out exactly what kind of coin you have in your collection.
Decoding the Mint Marks
One of the most useful clues for identifying old coins from Germany is the mint mark. This is just a small letter, usually tucked away on one side of the coin, that tells you where it was made. Germany has a long history of using different mints across the country, and each one had its own special letter.
Finding this mark helps you learn more about your coin's story. Here are some of the most common mint marks you’re likely to see:
- A for the Berlin Mint
- D for the Munich Mint
- F for the Stuttgart Mint
- G for the Karlsruhe Mint
- J for the Hamburg Mint
For instance, if you spot a 'D' on your coin, you know it was minted in Munich, while a 'J' means it came from Hamburg. This system was used for Imperial Marks, Reichsmarks, and later, the Deutsche Mark. It’s a simple but really effective way to trace a coin’s journey.
Common Denominations and Their Designs
A coin's denomination—its face value—is another big clue. The two main units you'll come across on older German coins are the Pfennig and the Mark. As a rule of thumb, 100 Pfennigs equalled 1 Mark. The designs themselves often give away the era just as much as the text does.
Coins from the German Empire (1871-1918), for example, often show the imperial eagle, a powerful symbol of the newly unified nation. Fast forward to the Deutsche Mark era, and you'll find much simpler, more modern designs. The famous 1 Pfennig German coin first issued in 1948, for instance, is known for its simple oak leaf motif—a symbol of stability and endurance.
Identifying your coins isn’t just about working out their monetary value; it's about unlocking a piece of history. Each mark, symbol, and inscription connects your coin to a specific time and place, giving you a tangible link to the past.
By pulling all these elements together—the date, inscriptions, mint mark, and design—you can build a really clear picture of what kind of coin you have. This knowledge puts you in a great position to understand your collection, whether it’s a jar of leftover holiday money or a cherished family heirloom. Once you've identified your old German coins, you might want to look into Comprehensive Coin Collection Management to preserve and organise your finds properly.
Your Options for Exchanging German Coins
So, you've identified your old coins from Germany. What's next? You might be looking at a small pot of forgotten holiday money or a bigger collection of obsolete Deutsche Marks. Whatever the case, you have a few different ways to turn those coins into cash you can actually use.
Each option has its own pros and cons, so it’s worth figuring out which one fits your situation best. The main paths are selling to coin collectors, using online marketplaces, or turning to a specialist currency exchange service like ours. The right choice really comes down to what kind of coins you have. Are they rare numismatic treasures, or just leftover currency?
Dealing with Collectors and Online Marketplaces
If you think your coins might have real collectible value – maybe they're particularly old, rare, or in perfect condition – then a coin collector or a numismatic dealer could be a good shout. Collectors care about the history and story behind a coin, not just what it was once worth at the checkout. They'll often pay a premium for a specific mint mark or a hard-to-find year.
But, be warned, this route takes time and a bit of know-how. You’ll need to research dealers, maybe even get your coins professionally valued, and then haggle over the price. Online marketplaces like eBay can get your coins in front of a global audience, but they come with their own set of headaches:
- Time-Consuming Listings: You have to photograph, describe, and list every single coin.
- High Fees: Marketplace and payment processing fees can take a decent chunk out of your profit.
- Risk of Undervaluing: Without expert knowledge, you could easily sell a valuable coin for a fraction of its true worth.
- Dealing with Buyers: Juggling questions, shipping, and potential disputes can be a real hassle.
Honestly, this approach is best for people with a proper numismatic collection, not for someone with a simple jar of mixed foreign coins. For most of us, the effort involved just isn't worth the potential reward, especially with common, low-value coins.
The Specialised Currency Exchange Service
For the vast majority of people who simply have leftover holiday money or obsolete currency like Deutsche Marks, a specialist service is by far the most practical and efficient solution. This is where we come in. We offer a fast, easy, and hassle-free way to exchange foreign coins and notes, cutting out all the complexities of the collector market.
Our service is built to handle the very currency that high-street banks and most collectors won't even look at. We take all the work off your hands. If you want to get a better sense of how this all works on a larger scale, it’s worth reading up on understanding the global currency exchange market.
The biggest advantage we offer is simplicity. There's no need to sort your coins. Just gather up all your leftover foreign currency, pop it in the post to us, and we handle everything else. Our process is 100% guaranteed, giving you complete peace of mind.
It’s this straightforward approach that has earned the trust of major UK brands, including charities, supermarkets, airports, and even police forces. They all rely on us to convert foreign coins and banknotes securely and efficiently. Whether you want to cash in on old holiday money or donate foreign coins to charity, our service provides a reliable and transparent way to unlock the value in your forgotten currency.
The Easiest Way to Exchange Old German Coins
So, you've sorted through your collection and identified your old coins from Germany. Now for the big question: how do you turn that pot of forgotten currency into actual cash? Trying to sell to collectors or navigating online marketplaces can be slow and complicated, especially for common leftover currency like Deutsche Marks.
There's a much simpler way. We offer a fast, easy, and hassle-free service to exchange foreign coins, taking all the guesswork out of the process. Our entire approach is built on a single, powerful promise: you don’t have to do any of the hard work.
Forget Sorting We Do It All for You
Let's be honest, the biggest headache with leftover currency is the sorting. Separating coins by country, denomination, and era is a tedious job that can easily eat up hours of your time. With our service, that problem completely vanishes.
Our core benefit is simplicity. There is absolutely no need to sort your coins. Just gather everything together—German Marks, Spanish Pesetas, French Francs, and any other leftover foreign currency—and send it to us. Our expert team handles every single step of the identification, sorting, and counting.
This is what really sets us apart. We believe you shouldn't need to be a currency expert to get value from your old money. Whether you have a small bag of coins from one trip or a large, mixed collection passed down through family, our process is the same: simple, straightforward, and 100% guaranteed.
A Trusted Partner for Major UK Brands
Trust is everything when you're sending your money away. You need complete confidence that it will be handled professionally and valued fairly. We're proud to be the trusted currency exchange partner for some of the UK’s most recognisable organisations.
Our client list includes:
- Major UK Charities: We help leading non-profits turn public donations into vital funds for their causes.
- National Supermarkets: Top retailers work with us to manage the foreign currency collected in their stores.
- UK Airports: We're the chosen service for handling the huge amounts of leftover currency from airport donation globes.
- Police Forces: We are entrusted by various police forces to process seized and found foreign currency.
These partnerships speak for themselves. These organisations choose us because they need a transparent, efficient, and totally dependable service to convert foreign coins and banknotes. You get that very same high standard of care when you choose to exchange foreign coins and notes with us.
From Museum Pieces to Your Cash Jar
While institutions like The British Museum carefully catalogue individual coins for their historical significance—its collection has over 800,000 items, including many important old coins from Germany—our focus is on a practical solution for everyday currency.
Our service bridges the gap between those historical treasures and the jar of mixed coins sitting in your home. We know that most people aren't holding priceless artefacts; they just want a simple way to unlock the cash value of their leftover foreign currency. That's exactly what we deliver.
If you're ready to turn that clutter into cash, you can find out more about how to exchange old foreign currency on our website. It’s the easiest way to get it done.
Turn Your Leftover Currency into a Charitable Donation
What if that old jam jar full of old coins from Germany and other foreign currency could do more than just gather dust? You could, of course, turn them into cash for yourself. But there's another powerful and meaningful alternative: you can donate foreign coins to charity right here with our service. It’s a simple way to transform forgotten holiday money into a vital contribution for causes that truly matter.
Many of us come home with small amounts of leftover foreign currency that isn't really worth the hassle of exchanging. But when you pool all those small, forgotten sums together, they can make a massive impact. We’ve partnered with a number of UK charities, making it incredibly easy for you to support their incredible work with your unwanted coins and notes.
The Hassle-Free Way to Give Back
We’ve designed the process to be as fast, easy, and hassle-free as possible, just like our standard exchange service. There's no need to sort your coins or try to calculate their value. Just gather up all your coins and notes, send them to us, and we handle the rest.
Our expertise in handling big, mixed currency collections is exactly why so many non-profits trust us. We take care of the entire process from start to finish, making sure the maximum possible value from every single donation gets passed on to your chosen charity.
Our service provides a simple, secure, and impactful way to support good causes. We turn the logistical challenge of converting thousands of mixed coins into a streamlined process, allowing charities to focus on what they do best.
This commitment to efficiency and transparency has made us a trusted partner for some of the UK’s most respected charitable organisations. They rely on us because our process is 100% guaranteed, secure, and built specifically to handle the complexities of charitable currency donations.
How Your Donation Makes a Difference
When you choose to donate foreign coins to charity through our platform, you’re not just clearing out a drawer – you're joining a collective effort that has a real-world impact. We work with a diverse range of brilliant organisations, including:
- Animal welfare charities that provide essential care and shelter for vulnerable animals.
- Medical research foundations searching for cures and supporting patients and their families.
- Humanitarian aid organisations offering life-saving relief in crisis zones around the world.
- Community support groups helping those in need right here in the UK.
Every single coin you send contributes to a larger fund that can provide meals, shelter, medical supplies, or educational resources. Your leftover Deutsche Marks, old French Francs, and Spanish Pesetas all combine to create substantial support for these essential missions.
It’s a fantastic way to clear out your clutter while making a genuinely positive contribution. It’s a simple act of generosity that costs you nothing more than the foreign currency you can’t spend anyway. By choosing this option, you give your old coins from Germany and other leftover currency a new, noble purpose.
If you’re ready to turn your unwanted currency into a force for good, our process makes it incredibly straightforward. Visit our homepage to learn more about how you can easily convert foreign coins and banknotes into a meaningful charitable donation today.
Start Your Currency Exchange in Three Simple Steps
Got a drawer full of old coins from Germany or other leftover foreign currency? It’s time to turn that clutter into cash. We’ve designed a process that cuts out all the usual hassle, making it fast, easy, and completely straightforward to get paid for your old money.
You don’t need to be a currency expert to cash in. The history of money crossing borders is a long one—for instance, Roman coin hoards dug up in the UK often contain coins that were originally minted in Germanic regions. It’s a fascinating reminder of how long Britain and Germany’s histories have been intertwined. The Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire project at the University of Oxford has even mapped these ancient economic ties, and you can discover more about their work here.
Step 1: Gather Your Currency
All you need to do is round up your leftover foreign coins and banknotes. Don't worry about sorting them out—it doesn’t matter if you have old Deutsche Marks mixed in with Spanish Pesetas or a pile of American cents. Just gather it all together.
The best part of our service? There’s absolutely no need to sort your coins. We do all the tedious work for you, saving you hours of time and effort.
Step 2: Get Your Free Shipping Label
Once you have your currency ready, just head over to our website. Our online system is incredibly simple. Follow the prompts to get your free, prepaid shipping label, which lets you send your coins and notes to us without it costing you a penny. No hidden fees, no tricky steps.
Step 3: Send Your Currency and Get Paid
With your label printed, package up your currency securely and pop it in the post. As soon as it lands with us, our expert team gets straight to work. We sort, identify, and value every single coin and banknote using professional-grade equipment. The whole process is 100% guaranteed, so you can relax knowing you’re in safe hands.
We’re trusted by major UK brands, including national charities, supermarkets, airports, and even police forces. They all rely on us to convert foreign coins and banknotes securely and efficiently, and you get that exact same high standard of service. Once we’ve valued everything, we’ll send your payment straight over.
Ready to get started? It really is that simple. Visit our homepage today and turn that forgotten currency into cash.
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a few questions about turning your old coins from Germany into cash? That's completely normal. Here are some straightforward answers to the questions we hear most often about our simple and secure service.
Do I Need to Sort My Coins Before Sending Them?
Not at all! In fact, that’s one of the best parts of our service. Just pop all your leftover foreign currency—coins and notes from any country—into a package and send it over. Our team of experts will handle all the sorting and counting for you, which saves you a ton of time and hassle. We’ve designed the process to be as easy as possible.
What About Obsolete Currency like Deutsche Marks?
We absolutely take them. We specialise in exchanging old and obsolete currency that you can't take to a high-street bank anymore, and that definitely includes pre-Euro currencies like the German Deutsche Mark. Our entire service is built to convert foreign coins and banknotes that others have stopped accepting, so you can get real value from that forgotten travel money.
How Can I Trust Your Service?
We understand that trust is everything. That’s why we’re proud to be the chosen currency exchange partner for some of the UK’s biggest organisations, including major charities, well-known supermarkets, airports, and even police forces.
Our process is transparent, secure, and 100% guaranteed. We have a professional team and accurate systems to make sure you get the correct value for every single coin and note you send our way.
When so many reputable brands rely on us, you can feel confident that you’re in good hands.
Ready to turn that old currency into cash or a donation for a good cause? We Buy All Currency makes it incredibly simple. Head over to our homepage to start the fast, easy, and 100% guaranteed process. Learn more and begin your exchange at We Buy All Currency.