Catalog
10 Pfennig - Dortmund
| Issuer | City of Dortmund |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 10 Pfennigs (10 Pfennige) (0.10) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central field features the heraldic eagle of Dortmund displayed on a shield, with wings spread and head turned to the right, rendered in bold low relief. The shield is set against a plain field and framed by a raised circular border. The circumferential legend reads '1917 STADT DORTMUND' in incuse Latin capitals distributed around the periphery. The overall design is stark and utilitarian, consistent with wartime emergency coinage aesthetics. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | 1917 STADT DORTMUND |
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| Additional information |
Dortmund's zinc 10 Pfennig belongs to the vast wave of Kriegsgeld — emergency municipal coinage — authorized after the Imperial government began requisitioning copper and nickel for war production in 1916. Over 600 German cities and municipalities issued their own notgeld coinage during this period, flooding local economies with a patchwork of incompatible small change that the Reichsbank quietly tolerated rather than sanctioned.
Zinc was a compromise material, prone to oxidizing and structurally weaker than the alloys it replaced. Many surviving examples from Dortmund and similar issuers show edge cracking characteristic of zinc's brittleness under die pressure.