50 Pfennig - Gössnitz

Gößnitz issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1918 as the German war economy strangled the supply of copper and nickel — the metals that would normally have circulated in denominations this size. Municipal councils across Saxe-Altenburg and neighboring states were effectively deputized by necessity, filling the vacuum left when imperial coinage vanished into hoarding and metal requisition drives. Gößnitz, a small rail junction town, was not unusual in doing this, but its issues are sparsely documented outside specialist Funck references.