10 Pfennigs - Lehesten Herzogl. Schieferbrüche

Lehesten, in the Thuringian Forest, was the site of the ducal slate quarries operated under the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, and this zinc notgeld piece was issued directly by the quarry administration to pay workers in a company-controlled economy. Mine and quarry scrip of this type circulated exclusively at the quarry-operated canteen and company store, binding wages to the issuer's own commercial infrastructure. Zinc was the practical choice during wartime metal shortages, though it corrodes aggressively in humid conditions — unsurprising given the quarry environment in which these tokens circulated.