Deutsche Mark accepted here, really

Ever since the currency name "Euro" was first coined, people have had their opinions on both the name and the value of the currency. The name was accepted much more easily than the currency itself and what it stood for.

In a nutshell, to some it stood for progress, to others it represented an artificial construct imposed on nations that had, thank you very much, a perfectly good currency. Or, in the case of Germany's Deutsche Mark (DM), a perfectly superior currency, as many will say to these days.

In accounting, the Euro was introduced in 1999, the coins and banknotes were introduced on 1 January 2002.

This meant, there was no more Deutsche Mark, right?

Wrong.

If you work in the financial sector, you will say sure, there are all sorts of contracts and instruments in DM that ran beyond 2002, no big deal.

But that's not it.

The current Wikipedia entry "Euro" (in German) has some more information: you can go to the German Fed today and exchange DM into Euros, and every now and then German retailers will have a "pay using DM" special.

That's a lot closer but still not the whole story.

Some shops have never stopped accepting DM, not for a minute. We encountered one in 2005. The owner had simply added a "DM accepted here" sign next to the "dollars and yens accepted" sign. The "DM accepted here" sign was bigger.

Even the German government has its very official use of DM.

A decade after the Deutsche Mark ceased to exist for most people, certainly for currency traders and international trade, the German government still sends out tax assessments that prominently figure values labeled as "DM".

Property value assessment in, say, 2010 would have lots of line items in DM. This will likely be true in 2020, too, be patient and check.

Only towards the end of the assessment are the DM converted to Euros, removing any doubt as to what currency to make future payments in.

Next time, you or someone else laments the demise of the Deutsche Mark, you can gently remind yourself or them that the DM is not gone quite yet.

Should we update the Wikipedia article now, or should be hedge our bets and our DM?