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5 Pfennig - Bensheim
| Issuer | City of Bensheim |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Obverse description | Central field depicts the Bensheim civic arms: a standing armoured knight in full plate, facing the viewer, holding a long spear or lance in his left hand and a heraldic shield in his right, with a dragon or beast subdued beneath his feet. A small circular center hole is punched through the field at the knight's waist. The curved legend STADT BENSHEIM arcs around the upper periphery of the octagonal flan, with the date 1917 inscribed along the lower portion of the field, flanked by small decorative stars. The design is rendered in low relief with a plain flat field typical of wartime emergency coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | STADT BENSHEIM 1917 |
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| Additional information |
Bensheim's 1917 zinc notgeld issue belongs to the first wave of German municipal emergency coinage, driven by the wartime hoarding of copper and nickel that stripped small denominations from everyday commerce. The Imperial government had sanctioned local authorities to fill the gap, and hundreds of German towns obliged — Bensheim among them. Multiple die variants catalogued under Funck suggest the city returned to the press more than once, indicating genuine circulation demand rather than a single commemorative run.