| Description | The Treaty of Versailles stated in article 45 that the newly formed territory would be administered by the League of Nations for 15 years, and that during that time France was granted the complete benefit of the Saar coal mines. The new French administration of the coal mines was granted the right to process all financial transactions with French francs. Therefore, from 1921 to 1923 the French franc was used alongside the German mark, and from 1923 on, when the Saar Territory was incorporated officially into the French economy, the franc became the only valid currency. Due to the shortage of nonferrous metal, the coal mines administration began to print its own banknotes, the so-called "Grubengeld" ("coal mine money"). After 1930, these notes were replaced by the usual French notes.
After the plebiscite of 1935, when the Saar Territory was unified with the German Reich again, the Reichsmark (ℛℳ) was immediately introduced. The official exchange rate was 1 franc = 0.1645 ℛℳ. |
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