Neustadt an der Aisch issued this iron notgeld piece in 1917, deep into the wartime metal shortages that had stripped Germany's circulation of copper and nickel. By that point the Reich had been systematically requisitioning non-ferrous metals for armaments for two years, leaving municipalities to fill the small-denomination gap with whatever the local authority could stamp. Iron was the unsentimental solution — cheap, available, and universally disliked by the public for its tendency to rust in pocket.
Neustadt an der Aisch issued this iron notgeld piece in 1917, deep into the wartime metal shortages that had stripped Germany's circulation of copper and nickel. By that point the Reich had been systematically requisitioning non-ferrous metals for armaments for two years, leaving municipalities to fill the small-denomination gap with whatever the local authority could stamp. Iron was the unsentimental solution — cheap, available, and universally disliked by the public for its tendency to rust in pocket.