5 Pfennig - Wertheim am Main

Wertheim am Main issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1917 under the acute metal shortages that had stripped German municipal coffers of copper and nickel by mid-war. The Imperial government had requisitioned base metals for shell casings and military hardware, leaving municipalities to fend for themselves with whatever material remained — zinc being among the few options still available to smaller towns.

Funck 597.1 places this among the earliest catalogued Wertheim emissions, suggesting it predates the more prolific 1918–1921 notgeld wave that most collectors associate with the type.