Union-Werke G.m.b.H. was a Dresden-area industrial firm that issued notgeld during the acute small-change shortage that gripped Germany in the early 1920s, when official coinage had been hoarded or melted faster than the mints could replace it. Factory-issued zinc pieces like this one functioned as wage tokens or canteen currency, redeemable only within the company's own ecosystem — a practical solution that kept production lines moving when workers couldn't be paid in spendable coin.
Union-Werke G.m.b.H. was a Dresden-area industrial firm that issued notgeld during the acute small-change shortage that gripped Germany in the early 1920s, when official coinage had been hoarded or melted faster than the mints could replace it. Factory-issued zinc pieces like this one functioned as wage tokens or canteen currency, redeemable only within the company's own ecosystem — a practical solution that kept production lines moving when workers couldn't be paid in spendable coin.