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500 Mark Forum-Scheck
| Issuer | Forum Außenhandelsgesellschaft m.b.H. |
|---|---|
| Year | 1979 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Mark (1948-1990) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 500 forum Außenhandelsgesellschaft m. b. H. Scheck über FÜNFHUNDERT MARK zum Erwerb von Waren Der Scheck ist vorgesehen für die Verrechnung in Einrichtungen der "Forum"-Außenhandelsgesellschaft m. b. H. AA 730020 500 (Translation: forum Foreign Trade Company Ltd. Cheque for five hundred marks for the purchase of goods. This cheque is intended for settlement in establishments of the "Forum" Foreign Trade Company Ltd.) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Intricate multicolour guilloche underprint on both obverse and reverse; serial number prefixed with letter pair (e.g. AA). |
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| Comments |
Forum Außenhandelsgesellschaft was the East German state's hard-currency retail operation — a mechanism for extracting Western money from citizens who received it from relatives abroad. Holders of Deutschmarks or dollars were compelled, in practice, to convert them into Forum-Schecks at a punishing 1:1 official rate, then spend those cheques exclusively at Intershop outlets. The arrangement gave the GDR access to hard currency it could not earn on its own terms.
The 500-Mark denomination is the highest in the series. A print run of over twelve million copies at this face value implies enormous systemic demand — or at least enormous state optimism about how much Western currency it could intercept.