Speaking in technical terms is the East German one mark equivalent to a Dollar or if not what is it the equivalent to
Depends on what you mean by "equivalent." If you mean "is an Ostmark (East German Mark) the basic unit of the former East German monetary system" then the answer is yes. However, the Ostmark is NOT equivalent in terms of purchasing power. First, the Ostmark was not freely exchangeable on the international market and therefore it was difficult to value (meaning East Germans that visited other countries - when permitted - had a tough time changing their money). I believe the given rate in the '80s for visitors TO East Germany was 5 Ostmark for 1 West German Mark. Second, the Ostmark ceased to be legal tender anywhere following the unification of Germany. During unification, residents changed money 2:1 East for West. Currently, East German banknotes and coins are worthless except for collector value. Just to compare, for fun: (1) You have 1 Ostmark in 1989, that you convert to DM. You have 0.50 DM. (2) In 2002 you exchange your 0.50 DM for Euro, which gives you 0.26 Euro. (3) In 2012, you want to know how much that Ostmark is in American dollars, so you go the Exchange. They give you $0.31 USD. The above isn't TOTALLY exact, because it doesn't account for inflation, exchange costs, etc. But you get the idea.
Basically I mean like the pfennig is a cent in technical terms, would mark be like a dollar in technical terms is what I'm asking
Whose "technical terms" are you talking about? A pfennig is a pfennig and a cent is a cent, and as Kipling said, "Never the twain shall meet." Urban_Lawyer is correct - the only equivalency between "mark", "dollar", "yen", "rupee", "ruble", etc., or "pfennig", "cent", "penny", "sen", "kopek", etc., are that they are respectively basic units of national currency and sub-units of national currency. There is no automatic value equivalency, even between "Dollars" of the US, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, etc.
Why make it so complicated ? Just answer the kid's question. No, a mark is not equivalent to a dollar. 5 marks are/were roughly equivalent to a dollar. Just like 5 francs was roughly equivalent to a dollar, just like 8 reales was roughly equivalent to a dollar, just like a thaler was roughly equivalent to a dollar. At the time when coins had silver and gold in them any coin from any country in any denomination could be said to be equivalent to a dollar or some portion of a dollar. Because the value of the coin was based on the silver/gold content. So if you know the metal and weight of the given coin then you figure out its equivalency to a dollar. Now once silver and gold went away, that all changed. Then the equivalency was based on currency exchange rates. But not until then.
And to add to Doug's explanation... yes, a Mark is 100 Pfennig. They used a decimal system like ours. Yikes. Hopefully the OP's question is answered.
