1/2 Mark - Landsberg an der Warthe

Landsberg an der Warthe — now Gorzów Wielkopolski in western Poland — issued notgeld in iron during the acute metal shortages of World War I, when nickel and copper had been requisitioned for the war economy. Municipal authorities across Germany and German-controlled territories stepped into the vacuum left by the imperial mint's inability to keep small change in circulation. Iron was an imperfect solution: it corrodes readily, and surviving specimens in decent condition are accordingly harder to locate than the original mintage figures would suggest.