5 Pfennig - Lichtenfels

Lichtenfels issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1920 amid the acute small-change shortage that followed Germany's postwar economic dislocation — federal copper and nickel coinage had effectively vanished from circulation as hoarding and metal scarcity left municipalities scrambling to fill the gap. Dozens of small Bavarian towns issued their own emergency pfennig pieces during this window, most authorized under loosely interpreted emergency powers rather than any formal federal mandate.

Zinc was the default material for these municipal issues precisely because it had little intrinsic value worth hoarding.