50 Pfennig - Gunzenhausen

Gunzenhausen's 1917 zinc notgeld issue belongs to the first wave of German municipal emergency coinage, produced after wartime metal requisitioning stripped circulation of copper and nickel. Zinc was the compromise material — workable, available, deeply unpopular with the public, and prone to corrosion in pocket humidity. Many pieces from this issue survived only because they were hoarded almost immediately upon receipt.