10 Pfennig - Simbach am Inn

Simbach am Inn issued emergency coinage — Notgeld — during the material shortages of World War I, when the Imperial government's requisition of copper and nickel stripped municipalities of the metals needed for small change. Zinc was the compromise: cheap, available, and deeply unpopular with the public for its tendency to corrode and crack. Most municipal zinc issues from this period circulated hard and briefly, which is precisely why survivors in clean condition are underrepresented relative to their original mintage.