25 Pfennig - Rothenburg ob der Tauber Spital Bastei

Rothenburg ob der Tauber issued this Notgeld piece during the acute coin shortages that followed Germany's postwar economic dislocation, when municipal and private authorities across the country produced their own emergency currency to fill the gap left by a collapsed Reichsbank supply chain. The Spital Bastei — the hospital tower forming part of the medieval wall — was a deliberate choice of subject, the town having leaned heavily on its architectural identity to market collector-targeted Notgeld as a secondary revenue stream. Iron was the practical fallback once nickel and copper allocations dried up.