10 Pfennig - Lassan Carl Duden

Carl Duden was a merchant in Lassan, a small Pomeranian coastal town, who issued this notgeld piece in 1918 as the German imperial economy buckled under wartime metal shortages. Municipal and private issuers across Germany filled the coin vacuum that year when copper, nickel, and zinc were diverted to armaments production, leaving everyday commerce without small change. Iron was the pragmatic substitute — cheap, abundant, and deeply unglamorous.

Lassan's civilian population numbered only a few thousand, making Duden's issue a purely local solution to a local problem. The Menzel reference numbers suggest this type is known but uncommon in collector holdings.