Forum check
| front | back | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
110 × 49 mm |
 |
 |
115 × 52 mm |
 |
 |
122 × 55 mm |
 |
 |
127 × 58 mm |
 |
 |
134 × 61 mm |
 |
 |
140 × 61 mm |
 |
 |
141 × 67 mm |
In the GDR, a means of payment was referred to as a forum check that was issued by Forum Außenhandelsgesellschaft mbH , a subsidiary of the Commercial Coordination Department of the GDR Foreign Trade Ministry founded in 1976 . With forum checks, GDR citizens could shop in the Intershops , and one forum check mark was equivalent to one D-mark . However, the 500-Mark forum check shown here did not come into circulation.
After the introduction of these checks on April 16, 1979, GDR citizens were forbidden to own freely convertible foreign currency ; only forum checks were allowed. The aim of this regulation was to skim off the western currencies introduced into the GDR as quickly as possible. In order to enforce the forum check regulation, only non-GDR citizens were allowed to pay cash in the Intershop with foreign currency and had to show their passport. GDR citizens were officially not allowed to do this and had to exchange the " Westgeld " for forum checks in the branches of the State Bank of the GDR . An exchange back was not possible. At least from the mid-1980s, however, direct purchases with D-Marks by GDR citizens were often accepted again.
The forum checks could only be redeemed in an Intershop. There they were treated like money, that is, when paying with forum checks, the "change" was also returned in forum checks (amounts smaller than 50 forum check pfennigs were mostly refunded in the form of chocolate bars or lollipops of 10 pfennigs each).
At the beginning of 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall , the checks could be exchanged for “real” D-Marks.
Comparable means of payment
The forum check was not a pure GDR phenomenon; there were similar checks in other socialist countries.
In the People's Republic of Poland , in addition to US dollars and German marks, you could also pay with Bon PeKaO in Pewex and Baltona stores .
In the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR) there was the Tuzex crown for this .
In the People's Republic of China , from 1980 to 1994, foreigners had to exchange their currencies for Foreign Exchange Certificates ( FEC ). Many transactions and purchases in the friendship shops were only possible with FEC.
The convertible peso has existed in Cuba since 1994 . Since 2004 it has completely replaced the US dollar as a means of payment in the Cuban "dollar shops" and for tourists. Until 2004, the dollar could be used equally.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. April 16, 1979 - New currency in the Intershops in 60xDeutschland.de
