10 Pfennig - Eisleben Mansfeldsche Gewerkschaft

The Mansfeldsche Gewerkschaft was one of Germany's oldest and most significant copper-mining operations, tracing its origins in the Mansfeld region back to the fifteenth century. By 1917, the imperial zinc supply was so thoroughly consumed by the war effort — shell casings, fuses, military hardware — that even a major industrial concern like Mansfeld found itself issuing notgeld in the same metal it was nominally producing for the state. The mines continued operating under severe material constraints throughout the war years.

Eisleben itself is the birthplace of Martin Luther, though the Gewerkschaft's corporate history predates even that association by decades.