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50 Pfennig - Gleiwitz Drahtwerke
| Issuer | Drahtwerke Gleiwitz (Wire Works Gleiwitz, Germany) |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Pfennigs (50 Pfennige) (0.50) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse shares the same general design as the obverse: an outer pearl border frames a circular legend reading DRAHTWERKE GLEIWITZ around the upper arc and WERTMARKE around the lower arc, with small star stops flanking the legend on each side. A concentric inner pearl ring defines the central field, within which the large numeral 50 appears in bold raised relief. The overall design is austere and utilitarian, consistent with the emergency token coinage of the World War I era. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
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| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Gleiwitz (now Gliwice, Poland) was one of Upper Silesia's principal industrial centers, and the Drahtwerke there — a wire manufacturing operation — issued this token during the acute small-change shortage that gripped Germany in the early 1920s, when hyperinflation had made official coinage economically worthless almost as fast as it could be struck. Firms across the region produced their own notgeld in metal simply to pay workers and make change on factory grounds.
Zinc was the practical choice: cheap, available, and easy to die-strike without the equipment demands of harder alloys. The Upper Silesian plebiscite of March 1921 and the subsequent partition in 1922 disrupted industrial operations throughout the region, making the window for issues like this one narrow.