Kemnath is a small market town in the Upper Palatinate, and its 1917 zinc notgeld issue belongs to the first wave of municipal emergency coinage prompted by the wartime metal shortage that stripped German circulation of its copper and nickel coins. The imperial government's requisitioning of base metals for munitions left municipalities scrambling to keep small change in local hands.
The Funck 239.3A designation distinguishes this among multiple die varieties documented for the Kemnath issue — worth checking against the reverse field carefully.
Kemnath is a small market town in the Upper Palatinate, and its 1917 zinc notgeld issue belongs to the first wave of municipal emergency coinage prompted by the wartime metal shortage that stripped German circulation of its copper and nickel coins. The imperial government's requisitioning of base metals for munitions left municipalities scrambling to keep small change in local hands.
The Funck 239.3A designation distinguishes this among multiple die varieties documented for the Kemnath issue — worth checking against the reverse field carefully.