Beckum's 1917 zinc notgeld belongs to the first wave of municipal emergency coinage forced on German towns when the imperial government requisitioned copper and nickel for war production, leaving local authorities scrambling to keep small change in circulation. Zinc was the compromise material — cheap, available, and deeply unpopular with the public, who found it corroded quickly and stuck to fingers.
The Funck reference places this among the better-documented Westphalian issues.
Beckum's 1917 zinc notgeld belongs to the first wave of municipal emergency coinage forced on German towns when the imperial government requisitioned copper and nickel for war production, leaving local authorities scrambling to keep small change in circulation. Zinc was the compromise material — cheap, available, and deeply unpopular with the public, who found it corroded quickly and stuck to fingers.
The Funck reference places this among the better-documented Westphalian issues.