10 Pfennig - Barmen Textil-Industrie A.G.

Barmen, now absorbed into Wuppertal, was one of the densest concentrations of textile manufacturing in the German Empire — ribbon weaving and thread production in particular. During the First World War, the Reich's acute metal shortages and disrupted small-change circulation prompted hundreds of private firms and municipalities to issue their own token coinage, known as Notgeld. Zinc was the material of necessity; copper and nickel had been requisitioned for the war effort years earlier.

Textil-Industrie A.G. issued these tokens primarily to pay wages in denominations usable at company-affiliated shops.