Germans hold on to Deutschmarks

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Germans are still holding on to billions of Deutschmarks, nearly eight years after the currency was phased out, Germany's central bank says.

The Bundesbank has given an overall figure of 13.6bn Deutschmarks - worth about 7bn euros (£6.3bn).

But it is not clear how much of that is held outside Germany. About half of the DM13.6bn is in notes and half in coins.

The Bundesbank has set no deadline for exchanging Deutschmarks for euros and no fee is levied when Germans do so.

Nearly DM160m was exchanged for euros in 2009, said Bundesbank spokeswoman Adelheid Sailer-Schuster.

The Deutschmark ceased to be legal tender on 1 March 2002. But there were many complaints at the time that traders were using the switch from Deutschmarks to disguise price mark-ups.

Before adoption of the euro the Deutschmark served as a reserve currency in much of Eastern Europe. In the mid-1990s up to 40% of Deutschmarks were in circulation in East European countries, the Bundesbank estimates.

Many of Germany's EU neighbours set deadlines for swapping their old currency for the euro, which is now used in 16 EU member states.

The Bundesbank no longer accepts DDR Marks - the currency of former communist East Germany, which had to be exchanged for Deutschmarks when Germany was reunited.