5 Pfennig - Algringen

Algringen — the German wartime name for Algrange, a small iron-and-steel commune in Lorraine — issued this zinc notgeld during the First World War when the nickel and copper normally used for small change had been entirely diverted to munitions production. Zinc was the fallback across hundreds of German and occupied municipalities, and the resulting coins corroded badly in circulation, which is why undamaged survivors are harder to find than the catalog references might suggest.