According to an opinion poll commissioned by Postbank, 74 percent of those clinging on to the currency are keeping it for sentimental reasons, while 24 percent see collecting old currency as a good investment. Others have simply forgotten where they have stashed it.
The Bundesbank, the country’s central bank, estimates that about 12.6 billion marks worth 6.6 billion euros ($8 billion), are still in circulation in Germany. On average, this means that Germany's 81 million citizens still hold on to some 160 marks each.
But according to the Bundesbank, 55 percent of old German coins are still unaccounted for, compared to just 4 percent of banknotes.
At the same time, stories about fortunes hidden inside bathroom walls and cellars are not uncommon in Germany. Thousands of marks were, for instance, once found wrapped in a plastic bag under the old bathtub of a German pensioner during renovation works.