Forum check

As Forumscheck was referred to in the GDR a means of payment, which was issued by the Forum Foreign Trade mbH, a subsidiary of the area started in 1976, commercial coordination of the GDR's foreign trade ministry. With Forum 's checks could buy GDR citizens in the Intershops, this corresponded to a check- mark a forum D-Mark. However, the pictured 500 - Mark forum check did not come into circulation.

After the introduction of these checks on 16 April 1979, was banned GDR citizens to own freely convertible currencies, only the possession of checks Forum was allowed. The aim of this scheme was to siphon off introduced in the GDR western currencies as quickly as possible. In order to enforce the forum check- regulation, only non- GDR citizens in Intershop could pay with foreign currency cash and had to show a passport. GDR citizens could this not official and had the " Western money " before attaching it to the branches of State Bank of the GDR against forum checks. A redemption has not been possible. At least since the mid- 1980s, but also the direct purchase was often accepted with D- Mark by GDR citizens again.

The forum 's checks could be redeemed only in an Intershop. There they were treated as money, which means when you pay with checks Forum was the " change " in the forum checks returned ( smaller amounts than 50 Forumscheck - penny were usually reimbursed in the form of chocolate bars or lollipops à 10 Pfennig ).

Comparable cash

The Forumscheck was not a pure DDR phenomenon in other socialist countries, there were similar checks.

In the People's Republic of Poland could pay in the Pewex and Baltona shops next to the U.S. dollar and German mark with Bon PeKaO.

In the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic ( CSSR ) there was this Tuzex the crown.

In the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1994 foreigners had their currencies into Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC ) exchange. Many transactions and purchases in the Friendship stores were only possible with the FEC.

In Cuba, since 1994 there is the convertible peso. He replaced since 2004 fully the U.S. dollar as currency in the Cuban "dollar stores " and for tourists. By 2004, the dollar could be used interchangeably.