Depicts an oak sprig, inscription "Bank of the German States" above, date below.

Oak leaves, used as a symbol for many centuries, have featured on coins in Germany since the Munich Coin Treaty of 1837. This was an agreement between states in southern and central Germany establishing a common currency area.

The Bank deutscher Länder (Bank of the German States), abbreviation BdL, was the forerunner of the Deutsche Bundesbank. It was founded on 1 March 1948. The main task of the BdL was to manage currency policy in the American and British occupation zones in Germany (Bizone). On 21 June 1948 the Bank deutscher Länder introduced the Deutsche Mark currency in the three western zones of occupation. On 1 November 1948, state central banks in the French zone, which had adopted Deutsche Mark in June too, joined the BdL. In May 1949 the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) was founded, however, the BdL remained subject to the control of the three Western Allied powers—the United States, the United Kingdom and France until 1951. Later, BdL became an independent agency of the West German states, similar to the concept of independence displayed by the Federal Reserve System in the United States.

Facial value between two rye ears, mintmark above.

Smooth brass plating partly stretched over a steel core