3 Mark - Charlottenburg Deutsche Ton and Steinzeugwerke A. G.

Deutsche Ton & Steinzeugwerke A.G. was one of Germany's major ceramic manufacturers, and like dozens of German industrial firms in 1921, it issued its own notgeld — emergency money — as the Reichsbank struggled to keep pace with demand for small-denomination coinage during the postwar inflation spiral. Porcelain notgeld of this period was produced primarily in Saxony and Thuringia, where the established ceramic industry made the tooling and firing infrastructure readily available. The dark gray-green glaze on this piece is a characteristic of the specific clay body and kiln conditions used at the Charlottenburg works rather than a deliberate decorative choice.