50 Pfennig - Kleinsaubernitz Oberlausitzer Braunkohlenwerk OLBA

Kleinsaubernitz lies in the Oberlausitz region of Saxony, where brown coal extraction drove one of Germany's most intensive industrial expansions during the early twentieth century. The OLBA works issued their own token coinage — Werksgeld — to pay laborers in scrip redeemable only at company-controlled stores, a practice that tied workers economically to the pit and was widespread across German heavy industry before the Weimar-era labor reforms curtailed it. Zinc was the practical choice during and after wartime metal restrictions, when copper and nickel were diverted to military production.