10 Pfennigs - Leipzig Wezel & Naumann

Wezel & Naumann was a Leipzig printing and bookbinding machinery manufacturer, not a monetary authority — yet like hundreds of German industrial firms in 1918, it was forced into issuing its own emergency coinage when the Imperial government failed to keep small change in circulation. Wartime metal requisitioning had gutted the Reichsbank's ability to produce adequate Pfennig coinage, and factory workers needed exact change for canteen purchases and tram fares. Nickel-plated zinc was the material of necessity, not choice.