Köslin's 1917 zinc notgeld emerged from the same municipal scramble that hit hundreds of German cities that year, when wartime hoarding stripped small-denomination coinage from circulation almost entirely. The city — now Koszalin in northwestern Poland — issued under magistrate authority rather than waiting for central relief that was slow to arrive. Zinc was the compromise material: iron corroded too quickly in pocket wear, and anything with copper content was needed elsewhere for shell casings.
Köslin's 1917 zinc notgeld emerged from the same municipal scramble that hit hundreds of German cities that year, when wartime hoarding stripped small-denomination coinage from circulation almost entirely. The city — now Koszalin in northwestern Poland — issued under magistrate authority rather than waiting for central relief that was slow to arrive. Zinc was the compromise material: iron corroded too quickly in pocket wear, and anything with copper content was needed elsewhere for shell casings.