The Kaufhaus des Westens — KaDeWe — issued its own internal coinage for use within the department store, a practice common among large German commercial establishments in the early twentieth century as a means of managing employee canteen transactions and controlling internal spending. These zinc pieces circulated exclusively on the premises, redeemable only at designated counters, and were never legal tender in any form.
Zinc composition points to a wartime or immediate postwar production window, when copper and nickel were restricted or unavailable for non-state minting.
The Kaufhaus des Westens — KaDeWe — issued its own internal coinage for use within the department store, a practice common among large German commercial establishments in the early twentieth century as a means of managing employee canteen transactions and controlling internal spending. These zinc pieces circulated exclusively on the premises, redeemable only at designated counters, and were never legal tender in any form.
Zinc composition points to a wartime or immediate postwar production window, when copper and nickel were restricted or unavailable for non-state minting.