10 Pfennig - Wyk auf Föhr

Wyk auf Föhr is a small resort town on the North Frisian island of Föhr, and this iron notgeld piece was issued by its local savings and loan institution during the severe coin shortages of World War I, when hoarding and metal requisitioning stripped Germany's small-denomination coinage from circulation almost entirely. Iron was the material of last resort — base, prone to rust, and universally unloved — yet municipalities and local banks across Germany issued billions of such pieces to keep daily commerce moving.

Föhr's geographic isolation as an island made the shortage particularly acute. Resupply of official coinage from the mainland was irregular at best.