5 Pfennig - Dresden Deutsche Wäschereiwerke

Deutsche Wäschereiwerke was a large industrial laundry operation, and this zinc piece is emergency money — Kriegsgeld issued when the German imperial government's wartime metal requisitions had stripped copper and nickel out of civilian coin production entirely. Municipalities, private firms, and utilities across Germany flooded the gap with tens of thousands of locally issued notgeld types between 1916 and 1918. Industrial employers like this one issued them partly for internal wage payment and canteen use, which kept the pieces cycling within a controlled environment rather than disappearing into hoarding.