10 Pfennig - Messel Gewerkschaft

Messel was a coal-mining operation in the Darmstadt region of Hesse, and like many German industrial enterprises of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it issued its own token currency for use within the company's economic ecosystem — typically redeemable at the company store rather than in open commerce. Zinc was the practical choice during periods of metal scarcity, particularly around the First World War, when copper and nickel were requisitioned for military production.

The Menzel references place this firmly within the documented German mining token corpus, though the two catalog variants suggest at least one die or edge difference distinguishes them.