Forum Außenhandelsgesellschaft Currency & Banknote Values

The Greysheet Catalog (GSID) of the Forum Außenhandelsgesellschaft series of German Democratic Republic in the World Currency contains 21 distinct entries with CPG® values between $1.00 and $400.00.

Eager to get convertible currencies, in December 1962, the East German state trade organization Intershop was founded to sell goods to visiting Westerners only. Even though it was illegal for East Germans to hold foreign currency, starting in 1974 East Germans were also allowed to purchase goods in Intershops using Western currencies, typically obtained from remittances from relatives living in the West or during authorized visits to the West.

Beginning in April 1979, East German citizens were required to exchange Western currency for Scheck (check) notes issued by Forum Außenhandelsgesellschaft m.b.h., a state-run company administered by the Ministerium für Außenhandel (Ministry for Foreign Trade). Although deutsche mark were exchanged at par, these foreign exchange certificates could be used only in Intershops. By the 1980s there were 380 Intershop branches in East Germany selling some popular products (cigarettes, alcohol, perfume, coffee, etc.) at lower prices than in West Germany, as well as exportware normally unavailable within East Germany. These so-called “forum” notes were used until the deutsche mark was introduced as the official currency of East Germany in July 1990, in preparation for unification on 3 October 1990.