Marktredwitz is a small Bavarian town near the Czech border, and this iron notgeld piece is a product of the acute coin shortages that gripped Germany during and immediately after the First World War. Municipal authorities across Germany were forced to issue their own emergency coinage when the imperial government hoarded copper and nickel for war production, leaving ordinary commerce without small change. Iron was the fallback — cheap, abundant, and deeply unpopular with the public for its tendency to rust in pocket and purse.
Marktredwitz is a small Bavarian town near the Czech border, and this iron notgeld piece is a product of the acute coin shortages that gripped Germany during and immediately after the First World War. Municipal authorities across Germany were forced to issue their own emergency coinage when the imperial government hoarded copper and nickel for war production, leaving ordinary commerce without small change. Iron was the fallback — cheap, abundant, and deeply unpopular with the public for its tendency to rust in pocket and purse.