Lützen's municipal authority issued emergency currency — Notgeld — in 1919 as the postwar German economy collapsed and the imperial coinage system disintegrated. Small denominations in particular vanished from circulation, hoarded or melted, leaving local administrations to fill the gap with whatever material and authority they could muster. Zinc was the compromise: abundant, cheap, and already familiar from wartime coinage production.
The Funck 311.2 designation distinguishes this from at least one other die variety in the Lützen series.
Lützen's municipal authority issued emergency currency — Notgeld — in 1919 as the postwar German economy collapsed and the imperial coinage system disintegrated. Small denominations in particular vanished from circulation, hoarded or melted, leaving local administrations to fill the gap with whatever material and authority they could muster. Zinc was the compromise: abundant, cheap, and already familiar from wartime coinage production.
The Funck 311.2 designation distinguishes this from at least one other die variety in the Lützen series.