Elberfeld issued this iron notgeld piece in 1917 as the German war economy stripped copper and nickel from civilian coinage for munitions production. The city — later absorbed into the newly created Wuppertal in 1929 — was one of hundreds of German municipalities forced to improvise emergency small change as federal coin production collapsed under wartime metal requisitions. Iron was universally loathed as a coinage material: it rusted in circulation, stuck to magnets, and wore badly in the press.
Elberfeld issued this iron notgeld piece in 1917 as the German war economy stripped copper and nickel from civilian coinage for munitions production. The city — later absorbed into the newly created Wuppertal in 1929 — was one of hundreds of German municipalities forced to improvise emergency small change as federal coin production collapsed under wartime metal requisitions. Iron was universally loathed as a coinage material: it rusted in circulation, stuck to magnets, and wore badly in the press.