Issued by a consortium of three Leipzig industrial firms — Jäger, Rothe, and Siemens-Werke — this zinc notgeld token emerged from the acute small-change shortage that gripped Germany during and immediately after the First World War. Municipal and private issuers across the Reich filled the gap when Reichsbank coinage disappeared into hoarding and metal requisition drives. Zinc was the material of necessity, not preference; by 1917 copper and nickel had been redirected almost entirely to munitions production.
Issued by a consortium of three Leipzig industrial firms — Jäger, Rothe, and Siemens-Werke — this zinc notgeld token emerged from the acute small-change shortage that gripped Germany during and immediately after the First World War. Municipal and private issuers across the Reich filled the gap when Reichsbank coinage disappeared into hoarding and metal requisition drives. Zinc was the material of necessity, not preference; by 1917 copper and nickel had been redirected almost entirely to munitions production.