Oberhausen's 1919 iron notgeld was a direct product of the postwar metal shortage that left German municipal treasuries unable to source copper or zinc for small denomination coinage. The Rhineland industrial cities — Oberhausen among them — were simultaneously dealing with the political upheaval of the short-lived Rhenish Republic agitation and the near-collapse of local supply chains following the armistice. Iron was the material of last resort, salvaged largely from wartime industrial surplus.
The Funck 390.2 designation distinguishes this from at least one other Oberhausen 10 Pfennig notgeld issue of the same period, confirming multiple emission runs within the city's emergency coinage program.
Oberhausen's 1919 iron notgeld was a direct product of the postwar metal shortage that left German municipal treasuries unable to source copper or zinc for small denomination coinage. The Rhineland industrial cities — Oberhausen among them — were simultaneously dealing with the political upheaval of the short-lived Rhenish Republic agitation and the near-collapse of local supply chains following the armistice. Iron was the material of last resort, salvaged largely from wartime industrial surplus.
The Funck 390.2 designation distinguishes this from at least one other Oberhausen 10 Pfennig notgeld issue of the same period, confirming multiple emission runs within the city's emergency coinage program.