10 Øre - Haakon VII WW2 German Occupation

When Germany occupied Norway in April 1940, the Quisling administration and German Reichskommissariat systematically stripped the country of copper and nickel — both critical war materials. Zinc, considered strategically expendable for small coinage, became the mandated substitute. The cadmium trace in the alloy was standard German practice for marginally improving the metal's workability, not a Norwegian specification.

These coins corrode aggressively in even moderate humidity. Uncirculated examples with intact surfaces are genuinely difficult to locate.