Sachsen issued these porcelain emergency coins — Notgeld — during the acute metal shortages that followed Germany's defeat in 1918, when copper, nickel, and aluminum were still being rationed or redirected from military stockpiles. The Meissen Manufactory, already the most technically sophisticated porcelain producer in Europe, was a logical choice: they could fire consistent, hard-paste pieces capable of surviving pocket circulation far better than the cardboard Notgeld flooding Germany at the same time.
Brown-glazed examples from this issue are distinct from the white and colored variants produced across the same period, each fired in separate kiln runs with different clay body treatments.
Sachsen issued these porcelain emergency coins — Notgeld — during the acute metal shortages that followed Germany's defeat in 1918, when copper, nickel, and aluminum were still being rationed or redirected from military stockpiles. The Meissen Manufactory, already the most technically sophisticated porcelain producer in Europe, was a logical choice: they could fire consistent, hard-paste pieces capable of surviving pocket circulation far better than the cardboard Notgeld flooding Germany at the same time.
Brown-glazed examples from this issue are distinct from the white and colored variants produced across the same period, each fired in separate kiln runs with different clay body treatments.