3 Mark Aluminium plated zinc pattern strike

By 1915, Germany's wartime metal shortages had forced emergency experimentation across dozens of mints and municipal authorities. Lübeck, one of the last surviving Free Hanseatic cities still exercising independent coinage rights, participated in this scramble with pattern strikes exploring substitute compositions. Aluminium-plated zinc was among the more technically awkward solutions attempted — adhesion between the layers proved inconsistent, and most examples show separation or surface compromise.

Lübeck's independent coinage authority was abolished in 1937 when the city was absorbed into Prussia.