10 Pfennig - Markstädt

Markstädt was a small German-administered town in the Posen region — territory that would be transferred to the newly reconstituted Polish state within months of this coin's striking, following the Versailles settlement and the Greater Poland Uprising of late 1918. Like dozens of municipalities across the Reich that year, Markstädt issued its own emergency coinage as the wartime metal shortage drained conventional copper and nickel from circulation entirely. Zinc was the last viable option for most issuers by late 1918.

The Posen transfer meant pieces like this had an exceptionally brief window of local utility.