10 Pfennigs - Grossauheim Fahrzeugfabrik

Großauheim's Fahrzeugfabrik — a vehicle manufacturing plant near Hanau in Hesse — issued notgeld coinage during the acute small-change shortage that gripped Germany in the early 1920s, when municipal and private issuers flooded the market with zinc, iron, and aluminum substitutes. Zinc was the material of necessity: cheap, available, and despised by collectors of the period for its tendency to corrode. The Hasselmann and Men18 references confirm two distinct varieties for this type, distinguished by die differences that remain the primary tool for attribution.