1 Pfennig - Oberhofen Soldatenheim

Soldatenheime — soldiers' rest homes — were established across occupied Alsace during the First World War to provide German troops with canteen facilities behind the front lines. The Oberhofen facility issued small-denomination zinc tokens to manage internal transactions, a common workaround when official coinage was being hoarded or simply unavailable in the quantities a busy canteen required. Zinc was the practical choice by 1916–18, copper and nickel having been systematically pulled from civilian and auxiliary use for the war effort.