Fürstenfelde — now Mieszkowice, Poland — issued emergency coinage (Notgeld) during the acute metal shortages of World War I, when the Imperial German government had stripped copper and nickel from circulation for war production. Zinc was the compromise material forced on municipal issuers across Prussia. These town-level issues were strictly local instruments, rarely traveling far, which explains why survival rates vary so sharply depending on how thoroughly a given municipality's postwar records were kept.
Fürstenfelde — now Mieszkowice, Poland — issued emergency coinage (Notgeld) during the acute metal shortages of World War I, when the Imperial German government had stripped copper and nickel from circulation for war production. Zinc was the compromise material forced on municipal issuers across Prussia. These town-level issues were strictly local instruments, rarely traveling far, which explains why survival rates vary so sharply depending on how thoroughly a given municipality's postwar records were kept.