I'm not sure if this belongs in AskHistorians or a subreddit focusing more on Economics, so sorry if this is in the wrong place.
I've read that when Germany reunited, West Germany exchanged DM for GDR marks at an artificial exchange rate that was way above market value for East German marks. Did this cause the DM to lose any value internationally (against the dollar or the pound, for example)?
Were there any other proposed/seriously considered plans for economic integration of the two Germanies?
The amount of money that could be exchanged at a 1:1 was limited based on the age of the accountholder.
People aged 15-59 could exchange 4000 Mark into D-Mark at 1:1, people older 6000 Mark and everyone 14 and younger could exchange 2000 Mark. Everything above that limit was exchanged at 2:2 2:1.
East Germans not residing in East Germany got an exchange rate of 3:1.
Wages, salaries, pensions, rents etc. were converted 1:1.
East Germany had a savings quota of ca. 10000 DDR Mark per person in 1989 while West Germany had ca. 40000 D-Mark per person. There were almost no instruments to save or increase money in East Germany besides giro accounts. There was a local black market of Valuta, mostly D-Mark and other valuables like jewellery and art.
Before the conversion, those who had a lot of DDR-Mark bought consumer goods like washing machines, fridges and other stuff.
So the feared inflation of the D-Mark did not occur.
Other plans proposed to keep the GDR a somewhat semi souverain country and turn it into a special economic zone. This wasn't feasible, since East Germans would have exodused into West Germany.