25 Pfennig - Biebrich Kalle and Co.

Kalle & Co. was a major chemical manufacturer in Biebrich — best known for producing dyes and, later, pharmaceutical intermediates — that found itself issuing emergency coinage in 1917 when the Imperial German government's wartime metal requisitions had stripped ordinary commerce of its small change. Factory-issued Notgeld of this type served workers who needed to make purchases in company canteens or local shops that accepted the scrip by arrangement. Zinc was the material of necessity: copper and nickel had been redirected to shell casings and military hardware years earlier.