Mülhausen im Elsass — today's Mulhouse, France — was part of the German Reich from 1871 until 1918, and military canteen tokens like this one were a practical administrative solution to a persistent problem: soldiers spending scrip outside approved facilities. Zinc was the material of necessity by the late Imperial period, cheap and abundant, and canteen tokens in this metal rarely survived in quantity since nobody thought them worth keeping.
Mülhausen im Elsass — today's Mulhouse, France — was part of the German Reich from 1871 until 1918, and military canteen tokens like this one were a practical administrative solution to a persistent problem: soldiers spending scrip outside approved facilities. Zinc was the material of necessity by the late Imperial period, cheap and abundant, and canteen tokens in this metal rarely survived in quantity since nobody thought them worth keeping.