50 Pfennig - Freising Anton Schlüter Motorenfabrik

Anton Schlüter's agricultural machinery firm in Freising issued this notgeld token in 1918 as the German imperial coinage system buckled under wartime metal requisitions. Brass, zinc, and iron were commandeered for munitions production, leaving civilian commerce desperately short of small change. Thousands of German firms, municipalities, and institutions filled the gap with their own emergency currency — Schlüter among them. The company would later become well known for its tractors, but in 1918 it was still primarily building stationary engines and farm equipment for a war economy stretched to its limit.