Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 Pfennig - Osterode
| Issuer | District of Osterode in Ostpreußen |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | 23.3 mm |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse features the large denomination numeral '20' prominently displayed in the center of the field in bold raised lettering. The circular legend 'KREIS OSTERODE OPR.' runs along the upper periphery, while the date '1917' appears in the lower field beneath the numeral. The entire design is framed by a continuous ring of raised beads forming an inner border just inside the coin's rim. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Osterode am Preußen — now Ostróda in northern Poland — issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1917 as the Imperial German war economy systematically stripped copper and nickel from civilian coinage for munitions production. District-level emergency issues like this one filled the gap left by the withdrawal of Reich small change, authorized under wartime ordinances that gave local administrations unusual latitude to strike their own circulating currency. Zinc was the compromise material: cheap, available, and deeply unpopular with the public, who found it prone to corrosion and difficult to distinguish by touch from other denominations.