German banker six months counted 1.2 million coins, which left a legacy
Employee of the Oldenburg branch of the German Federal Bank (Bundesbank) Wolfgang Kemerait within six months manually counted 1.2 million coins in the old currency. They had inherited and brought to exchange for euros. On 14 December, said the North German broadcasting company NDR.
2.5 tons of coins of 1 and 2 Pfennig left the family of a deceased relative, who worked as a truck driver. He collected them for 30 years, and put in freezer bags. The heirs had to hire a van to transport the coins to the Bank.
They could count with the help of special equipment, because many of them were rusty and stuck together with each other. According to Kemerait, for each packet it would take him about an hour. He did this along with their regular banking duties.
In the calculations it was found that the total amounted to €8 thousand in today’s money.
The Pfennig was the smallest unit of currency of Germany until 2002. In the same year Germany withdrew from circulation of the German mark and the Euro moved. At the same time in the country announced that the stamps can be exchanged for euros indefinitely at any branch of the Bundesbank. According to estimates of the Bundesbank, still in Germany are a little less than 13 million German marks (€6,48 million). Only in Oldenburg with a population of 160 thousand people a day on average exchange for 490 marks to euros. The rate of exchange between marks and euros recorded as of 1.96 to 1.