Gleiwitz (now Gliwice, Poland) was one of Upper Silesia's major industrial centers, and the Drahtwerke — a wire manufacturing works — issued company scrip tokens as a practical response to the chronic small-change shortages that plagued German industry during and immediately after World War I. Iron was the only viable striking material once copper and nickel were commandeered for war production. These Werksgeld pieces circulated exclusively within the factory economy, redeemable at company stores against wages, and were voided once the currency stabilization of 1923–24 rendered them obsolete.
Gleiwitz (now Gliwice, Poland) was one of Upper Silesia's major industrial centers, and the Drahtwerke — a wire manufacturing works — issued company scrip tokens as a practical response to the chronic small-change shortages that plagued German industry during and immediately after World War I. Iron was the only viable striking material once copper and nickel were commandeered for war production. These Werksgeld pieces circulated exclusively within the factory economy, redeemable at company stores against wages, and were voided once the currency stabilization of 1923–24 rendered them obsolete.