50 Pfennig - Karlstadt

Karlstadt am Main issued this zinc notgeld piece in 1917 as wartime metal requisitions stripped municipalities of their copper and nickel stocks. By mid-war, the Imperial government had claimed those metals for shell casings and industrial use, forcing hundreds of German towns to authorize emergency coinage in whatever base material remained locally available. Zinc was the default solution for most small Bavarian communities.

The Funck reference places this among a numbered series of Karlstadt issues, suggesting the city struck multiple denominations or varieties during the shortage period rather than a single emergency release.