Sandow was a small industrial commune in Lower Lusatia — today Zasieki, split between Germany and Poland by the Oder-Neisse line after 1945. Notgeld issues from such minor localities were typically driven by the acute small-change shortage that followed Germany's entry into World War I, when hoarding stripped copper and nickel coins from circulation almost immediately. A private issuer like Paul Steinbock — likely a local merchant or innkeeper — would have produced these zinc pieces to make change in the absence of official coinage.
Sandow was a small industrial commune in Lower Lusatia — today Zasieki, split between Germany and Poland by the Oder-Neisse line after 1945. Notgeld issues from such minor localities were typically driven by the acute small-change shortage that followed Germany's entry into World War I, when hoarding stripped copper and nickel coins from circulation almost immediately. A private issuer like Paul Steinbock — likely a local merchant or innkeeper — would have produced these zinc pieces to make change in the absence of official coinage.