10 Pfennig - Blaichach Allgäuer Baumwoll Spinn and Weberei

Issued by the Allgäuer Baumwoll-Spinn- & Weberei, a cotton spinning and weaving mill in Blaichach in the Allgäu region of Bavaria, this is private notgeld — factory-issued emergency currency produced because small-denomination coinage had effectively vanished from circulation during World War I. Zinc was the material of necessity; brass and nickel had been requisitioned for the war effort, and state mints simply weren't producing enough low-value coin to keep industrial payrolls and canteen transactions functioning. Textile mills, often paying hundreds of workers weekly, were among the most aggressive issuers of such pieces.