10 Pfennig - Wilhelm II type 2 - small shield - Pattern

By 1915, Germany's copper and nickel supplies were already being diverted to military production, and the Reichsbank was actively exploring substitute coinage materials. This piece belongs to that experimental moment — a pattern struck to evaluate whether the existing 10 Pfennig design could continue in copper-nickel before the decision was made to abandon the alloy entirely in favor of iron. The wartime switch to iron coinage came swiftly; copper-nickel 10 Pfennig pieces did not enter circulation after 1916.