Coin of the Week: 1936 German Reich 5 Marks

Obverse (Image: Paul von Hindenburg)

Reverse (Inscription: The German Reich, 5 Marks) 

The Reichsmark was Germany's currency from 1924 to 1948 and was the legal tender that replaced the Papiermark at an exchange rate of 1 trillion Papiermark to 1 Reichsmark (actually, the Rentenmark, backed by the Rentenbank, replaced the Papiermark).

The first version (1935-1936) of the commemorative 5 Mark piece depicted the German eagle on the reverse. The later version also included the Nazi insignia. The 5 Mark coin commemorated Paul von Hindenburg, a Prussian general and second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934. Although Hindenburg defeated Adolf Hitler in the presidential elections of 1932, he was instrumental in bringing the Nazis to power by, among other activities, appointing Hitler as Chancellor in 1933. It should be noted that Hindenburg was in his 80s at the time and lapsing in and out of senility. Though remembered by most as a strong and powerful military hero, the biographers John Wheeler-Bennett and Andreas Dorpalen have argued that Hindenburg was actually a weak-willed and not very intelligent man who depended greatly upon the advice of others to make decisions for him.

In 1948, the Reichsmark was replaced by the Deutsch Mark in West Germany and East German Mark in East Germany.