Blankenstein was a small town in the Reuss principalities of Thuringia, and this zinc piece belongs to the wave of emergency coinage — Notgeld — produced by German municipalities during the acute metal and currency shortages of World War I. Zinc was the default substitute once copper and nickel were redirected to the war effort. The Funck reference places this among the better-documented municipal issues, though Blankenstein's output was modest by any measure.
Blankenstein was a small town in the Reuss principalities of Thuringia, and this zinc piece belongs to the wave of emergency coinage — Notgeld — produced by German municipalities during the acute metal and currency shortages of World War I. Zinc was the default substitute once copper and nickel were redirected to the war effort. The Funck reference places this among the better-documented municipal issues, though Blankenstein's output was modest by any measure.