1 Pfennig - Berlin Bank f. Handel u. Industrie

The Bank für Handel und Industrie, founded in Darmstadt in 1853 and commonly known as the Darmstädter Bank, operated its Berlin branch as a major commercial financing institution during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Emergency or subsidiary token coinage issued under private banking authority was not uncommon in the German states during periods of small-change shortage, and zinc was the material of necessity rather than choice — cheap, abundant, and wholly unsuitable for long-term circulation given its corrosion susceptibility.