5 Pfennig - Ingolstadt K. Hauptlaboratorium

Issued by the Royal Main Laboratory (K. Hauptlaboratorium) in Ingolstadt, this is a piece of German military necessity coinage — Lagergeld or Gutschein-type token struck for internal use within a Bavarian military installation. Ingolstadt was home to one of the most significant Bavarian fortress and munitions complexes, and such tokens circulated among workers and garrison personnel as substitutes for official currency during the strains of wartime production.

Zinc was the material of circumstance, not preference — copper and nickel were reserved for the war effort.