5 Pfennig - Dillingen

Dillingen an der Donau issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1917, when the German war economy had stripped copper and nickel from civilian coinage entirely. Zinc was the compromise material — corrodes readily, strikes poorly, and was never intended to outlast the emergency. Most Bavarian municipal issues of this type circulated hard through 1918 and were redeemed and destroyed, which explains why survivors in better condition are consistently underrepresented relative to documented mintages.