Haynau, a small Silesian linen-trading town, issued emergency iron coinage — Notgeld — during the acute metal shortages of World War I, when copper and nickel had been requisitioned for the war effort. The Haynauer Stadtblatt reference confirms this piece was issued under the town's own authority, one of hundreds of German municipalities that printed or struck local subsidiary currency between 1916 and 1918 to fill the void left by hoarded imperial coinage.
Iron was a poor substitute — prone to rust, easily confused, and deeply unpopular with the public. Most pieces left circulation quickly.
Haynau, a small Silesian linen-trading town, issued emergency iron coinage — Notgeld — during the acute metal shortages of World War I, when copper and nickel had been requisitioned for the war effort. The Haynauer Stadtblatt reference confirms this piece was issued under the town's own authority, one of hundreds of German municipalities that printed or struck local subsidiary currency between 1916 and 1918 to fill the void left by hoarded imperial coinage.
Iron was a poor substitute — prone to rust, easily confused, and deeply unpopular with the public. Most pieces left circulation quickly.