5 Pfennig - Karlstadt am Main Portland Cementfabrik

Issued by a private cement works on the Main river, this zinc notgeld token belongs to the industrial emergency currency phenomenon that swept Germany during and after World War I, when the imperial government's metal requisitions stripped municipalities and private firms alike of the copper and nickel needed for small change. Cement factories were among the more unusual issuers — their tokens rarely traveled far, circulating almost exclusively among workers drawing wages at the plant gate.