10 Pfennig - Müllheim

Müllheim's 1917 zinc notgeld issue was a direct consequence of the German war economy stripping copper and nickel from civilian coinage to feed munitions production. By mid-1917, the imperial government had effectively authorized municipalities to plug the resulting small-change vacuum themselves, which is why hundreds of German towns — Müllheim among them — suddenly found themselves in the minting business. The zinc used here was itself a compromise material, prone to corrosion and warping, which explains the condition problems endemic to surviving municipal zinc pieces from this period.