Arcisgarten Gilch was a Munich beer garden that issued its own small-denomination zinc tokens during the World War II period, when Reichsmark coinage in base metals was increasingly diverted toward war production and small change became genuinely scarce in civilian commerce. Private gasthaus and garden tokens of this type filled a real gap in everyday transactions, redeemable only on the issuing premises.
Zinc was the material of necessity — copper and nickel were long gone to the war effort by the time most of these pieces were struck.
Arcisgarten Gilch was a Munich beer garden that issued its own small-denomination zinc tokens during the World War II period, when Reichsmark coinage in base metals was increasingly diverted toward war production and small change became genuinely scarce in civilian commerce. Private gasthaus and garden tokens of this type filled a real gap in everyday transactions, redeemable only on the issuing premises.
Zinc was the material of necessity — copper and nickel were long gone to the war effort by the time most of these pieces were struck.