Rudolstadt's 1918 zinc notgeld emerged from the acute metal shortages that plagued German municipal authorities in the final year of the war, when copper and nickel had long since been requisitioned for military production. The principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt — one of the smallest sovereign states in the German Empire, with a population barely exceeding 100,000 — ceased to exist just months after this piece entered circulation, absorbed into the Weimar Republic's restructured states in November 1918.
The Funck 457.2B designation distinguishes this from at least one other die variety in the series.
Rudolstadt's 1918 zinc notgeld emerged from the acute metal shortages that plagued German municipal authorities in the final year of the war, when copper and nickel had long since been requisitioned for military production. The principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt — one of the smallest sovereign states in the German Empire, with a population barely exceeding 100,000 — ceased to exist just months after this piece entered circulation, absorbed into the Weimar Republic's restructured states in November 1918.
The Funck 457.2B designation distinguishes this from at least one other die variety in the series.