Frankenhausen issued zinc notgeld during the post-WWI shortages that gutted Germany's copper and nickel supplies, with municipal authorities across Thuringia scrambling to fill the void left by hoarded imperial coinage. The Kyffhäuser district was no economic center, and these pieces saw hard local circulation — zinc being a poor choice for durability, surviving examples in clean condition are rarer than their original mintage might suggest.
Frankenhausen issued zinc notgeld during the post-WWI shortages that gutted Germany's copper and nickel supplies, with municipal authorities across Thuringia scrambling to fill the void left by hoarded imperial coinage. The Kyffhäuser district was no economic center, and these pieces saw hard local circulation — zinc being a poor choice for durability, surviving examples in clean condition are rarer than their original mintage might suggest.