20 Pfennigs - Kapfenberg Volksheim

Kapfenberg, an industrial town in Styria built around its steelworks, saw a surge of notgeld issuance in the early 1920s as municipal and cooperative institutions scrambled to fill the void left by chronic small-change shortages. The Volksheim — a workers' cultural and social club model common to Austrian Social Democracy — issued zinc pieces like this one for internal circulation, likely redeemable at club facilities rather than in open commerce. Zinc was the material of necessity: cheap, available, and easy to strike in small runs without a proper mint contract.