Waldshut issued this notgeld piece in 1917 as the German war economy stripped conventional coinage metals from circulation — nickel and copper had been redirected to munitions production since 1915, leaving municipalities to fill the gap with whatever ferrous substitutes the Kriegsmetall authorities would permit. The city sits on the Rhine directly opposite the Swiss town of Rheinfelden, a geography that made the local shortage of hard currency particularly awkward given daily cross-border commerce with a neutral country still using silver.
Waldshut issued this notgeld piece in 1917 as the German war economy stripped conventional coinage metals from circulation — nickel and copper had been redirected to munitions production since 1915, leaving municipalities to fill the gap with whatever ferrous substitutes the Kriegsmetall authorities would permit. The city sits on the Rhine directly opposite the Swiss town of Rheinfelden, a geography that made the local shortage of hard currency particularly awkward given daily cross-border commerce with a neutral country still using silver.