25 Pfennig - Westerholt

Westerholt's 1920 notgeld issue was a direct product of the postwar coin shortage that left German municipalities scrambling to fill the void left by hoarded or melted imperial coinage. Iron was the fallback material for dozens of small Westphalian communities that lacked the connections or budget to commission the more decorative zinc or porcelain pieces that larger towns were producing at the same time. The Ruhr district context matters here: Westerholt sat at the heart of coal country, and its municipal finances in 1920 were operating under the shadow of ongoing labor unrest and the occupation threat that would materialize fully in 1923.