50 Pfennig - Erstein

Erstein, a small Alsatian town under German administration since 1871, issued this notgeld piece in 1917 as the wartime metal shortage stripped conventional coinage from everyday commerce. Zinc was the compromise material — abundant enough to be spared for municipal token production, unlike copper or nickel, both of which had been systematically redirected to munitions. The dual Funck and Menzel reference numbers suggest at least two recognized die or edge varieties exist within this emission, a detail worth cross-referencing against the specific specimen in hand.