20 Pfennig - Strassebersbach

Straßebersbach issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1917 as the German war economy stripped copper and nickel from municipal circulation entirely. By that year, the Hindenburg Programme had redirected nearly all non-ferrous metals to armaments production, forcing thousands of small German municipalities to produce their own emergency coinage. Zinc was the reluctant compromise — cheap, workable, but prone to corrosion and porosity, which explains the condition problems endemic to surviving examples of this type.

The dual Menzel references (30410.4 and 30410.5) indicate at least two die variants were documented for this issue.