Habelschwerdt — now Bystrzyca Kłodzka in southwestern Poland — issued this notgeld piece in 1917 as Germany's wartime metal requisitions stripped municipal circulation of copper and nickel coinage. Iron was a poor substitute: it corrodes readily, which explains why undamaged survivors are genuinely scarce despite the practical necessity of the original issue.
Habelschwerdt — now Bystrzyca Kłodzka in southwestern Poland — issued this notgeld piece in 1917 as Germany's wartime metal requisitions stripped municipal circulation of copper and nickel coinage. Iron was a poor substitute: it corrodes readily, which explains why undamaged survivors are genuinely scarce despite the practical necessity of the original issue.