Economist Alan Walters has predicted that the euro will not last for many more years, because of its own internal contradictions and strains. 'People who think it will go on forever should think again' he said. 'Nothing lasts forever in monetary economics'. More recently, a major forecaster said that it is time for markets to wake up to the real possibility that the euro area may shrink or even disintegrate. 'This may be triggered by the withdrawal of the Netherlands or Germany and either nation could make a quick exit by resurrecting its old currency unit and devaluing it against the euro.' Countless opinion polls have shown that the majority of German people would like to see the return of the Deutsche Mark.

The pattern/probe 5 Deutsche Mark in this collection commemorates the 200th anniversary of the death of Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller - the great German dramatist, poet adn historian. The 2 mark celebrates the 350 years since the birth of Ludwig von Baden in 1655, and the 1 Mark the 125th anniversary of Cologne Cathedral (Kolner Dom).