Nostalgic Germans hoard D-marks
BERLIN (Reuters) -- Almost two years after the introduction of the euro, nostalgic Germans are hoarding some 25 billion Deutschmark coins -- worth about $4.2 billion -- as souvenirs.
The number of coins being held is about half the 49 billion Deutschmark coins in circulation just before the single European currency was launched in January 2001, Bundesbank spokeswoman Gabriele Reitz-Werner said.
"The Deutschmark is widely regarded as a symbol of Germany's postwar recovery that led to the so-called "economic miracle" of the late 1950s and early 1960s," said Kerstin Altendorf, a spokeswoman for the BDB banking association.
"Especially elderly Germans still have strong emotional ties to it," she added. But BDB figures show Germans' acceptance of Europe's common currency has grown in recent years.
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