Elberfeld issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1917 as the Imperial German war economy stripped copper and nickel from civilian coinage entirely. The city — now absorbed into Wuppertal since the 1929 municipal merger — was an industrial center in the Wupper valley, and its local scrip circulated out of necessity rather than civic pride. Zinc was the compromise metal of the home front: abundant, cheap, and universally despised by the public for its tendency to corrode rapidly in pocket conditions.
Elberfeld issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1917 as the Imperial German war economy stripped copper and nickel from civilian coinage entirely. The city — now absorbed into Wuppertal since the 1929 municipal merger — was an industrial center in the Wupper valley, and its local scrip circulated out of necessity rather than civic pride. Zinc was the compromise metal of the home front: abundant, cheap, and universally despised by the public for its tendency to corrode rapidly in pocket conditions.