Freudenstadt issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1918 under the acute metal shortages of the final year of the First World War, when imperial Germany had long since exhausted its copper and nickel reserves for military purposes. Municipalities across Baden and Württemberg were left to provision their own small change. Zinc was the metal of last resort — cheap, abundant enough, and deeply unpopular with the public who found it corroded quickly in pocket wear.
The Funck reference places this among a numbered series from the city, suggesting coordinated local issue rather than emergency improvisation.
Freudenstadt issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1918 under the acute metal shortages of the final year of the First World War, when imperial Germany had long since exhausted its copper and nickel reserves for military purposes. Municipalities across Baden and Württemberg were left to provision their own small change. Zinc was the metal of last resort — cheap, abundant enough, and deeply unpopular with the public who found it corroded quickly in pocket wear.
The Funck reference places this among a numbered series from the city, suggesting coordinated local issue rather than emergency improvisation.