# German buried-or-not-so-buried Treasure. Newsllinks **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 1, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-buried-or-not-so-buried-treasure-newsllinks/670132 "2013-10-01T21:04:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-buried-or-not-so-buried-treasure-newsllinks/670132/1 "2013-10-01T21:04:40Z")
Vast, unclaimed sums keep mysteriously appearing in or from Germany, lately. Gold bars, unclaimed ones, appear in a train station. > **[HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News](https://www.huffpost.com/)** > > Read the latest headlines, news stories, and opinion from Politics, Entertainment, Life, Perspectives, and more. > [@](#): > > … the appeal that police in the western German city issued Friday for information to track down the owner of the several kilos (pounds) of gold and a six-figure sum of euros in cash. > > The stash was found in April in a luggage locker at the station, a major European transport hub. Police said they’re going public after being unable to link the haul to any crime and hearing nothing from any legitimate owner. And now, **half a billion** German Reichsmarks appear in an organ, in Norway. > **[Millions of dollars found in time capsule hidden in organ in Norway - UPI.com](https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2013/09/29/Half-a-billion-in-German-Reichsmarks-found-in-organ/UPI-26131380464947/)** > > More than half a billion German Reichsmarks were discovered in a time capsule from 1930 hidden inside an organ in Norway. > [@](#): > > More than half a billion German Reichsmarks were discovered in a time capsule from 1930 hidden inside an organ in Norway. > > According to a note found in the time capsule, it was placed in the organ by August Sieber, an organ builder from Bavaria, on January 8, 1930, The Local.no reported Friday. > … > The note was “a bitter and emotional greeting,” Bonsaksen said, warning future generations of hyperinflation. Any nottion of what they’d be worth today? ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-buried-or-not-so-buried-treasure-newsllinks/670132/2 "2013-10-02T20:22:20Z")
Probably worth very little. Post WW1-Germany went through a period of ridiculous hyper-inflation. Per Wiki, in the 1920s people were using 1M mark bills as notepaper and a 50M banknote issued in 1923 was worth $1 at the time. Within weeks it was worthless due to inflation. > **[Weimar Republic | Onset of the Great Depression](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weimar_Republic#Onset_of_the_Great_Depression)** > > In 1929, the onset of the depression in the United States of America produced a severe economic shock in Germany and was further made worse by the European banking crisis of 1931. Germany's fragile economy had been sustained by the granting of loans through the Dawes Plan (1924) and the Young Plan (1929). When American banks withdrew their line of credit to German companies, the onset of severe unemployment could not be abated by conventional economic measures. Unemployment thereafter grew dramat... I’d hazard a guess that an organ-maker who stuck a 500M note into a time capsule was burying something from the time when that would have bought you a loaf of bread. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-buried-or-not-so-buried-treasure-newsllinks/670132/3 "2013-10-02T20:58:53Z")
In 1924, the mark was revalued at 1 **trillion** to 1, so 500 million of the old marks would have been worth some fraction of a cent (exchange rate was roughly 4 trillion to 1 USD.) This is certainly the case given the context. In 1930 when the money was hidden, the exchange rate for the new currency was about 4 to 1 USD, so 500 million would be an unimaginable fortune. Not sure what $125 million in 1930 dollars would be today. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-buried-or-not-so-buried-treasure-newsllinks/670132/4 "2013-10-02T22:30:27Z")
I remember reading somewhere that intact US dollars of any era are legal tender _in perpetuity._ Would Reichmarks even be honored today? The government(s) that issued them no longer exist(s)! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-buried-or-not-so-buried-treasure-newsllinks/670132/5 "2013-10-02T22:31:37Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > Not sure what $125 million in 1930 dollars would be today. Rule of thumb, at least ten times more. At least!