5 Pfennig - Amberg Gebrüder Baumann

Gebrüder Baumann was a commercial firm in Amberg, Bavaria, that issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1917 as the Imperial German wartime metal shortage stripped conventional coinage from everyday commerce. Berlin's requisitioning of copper and nickel for munitions had emptied tills across the country by mid-war, forcing thousands of local businesses and municipalities to plug the gap with privately struck tokens. Zinc was one of the few base metals still available in quantity, though it proved brittle and corroded readily in circulation — surviving examples in decent condition are more the exception than the rule.