Traunstein issued this iron notgeld piece in 1918 as the German imperial war economy stripped municipal treasuries of copper and nickel, forcing hundreds of Bavarian districts to produce their own emergency coinage. Iron was the compromise material — cheap, available, and deeply unpopular with the public, who understood that rust was a matter of when, not if.
Traunstein issued this iron notgeld piece in 1918 as the German imperial war economy stripped municipal treasuries of copper and nickel, forcing hundreds of Bavarian districts to produce their own emergency coinage. Iron was the compromise material — cheap, available, and deeply unpopular with the public, who understood that rust was a matter of when, not if.