1 Pfennig

Gronau in Holstein — not to be confused with the larger Gronau in Westphalia — issued this cardboard Pfennig piece during the acute small-change shortage that paralyzed German retail commerce from 1916 onward. The Reichsbank's metal coinage had effectively vanished from circulation as zinc, iron, and even aluminum were redirected toward war production, forcing municipal authorities across Germany to print their own fractional substitutes. Thousands of towns did exactly this, and the resulting Notgeld issues varied wildly in material, format, and issuing authority's competence.

Cardboard at this denomination is particularly vulnerable to damage from handling and moisture, which accounts for the high attrition rate among surviving examples.