Wagner & Englert G.m.b.H. was a Mettmann-based metalware manufacturer that issued this zinc notgeld token during the acute small-change crisis that gripped Germany in 1917–18, when wartime metal requisitioning stripped copper and nickel from circulation entirely. Municipal and commercial issuers across the Rhineland stepped in to fill the void, and industrial firms like Wagner & Englert produced pieces primarily for wage payment and in-house transactions. Zinc was the only base metal left in sufficient supply.
Wagner & Englert G.m.b.H. was a Mettmann-based metalware manufacturer that issued this zinc notgeld token during the acute small-change crisis that gripped Germany in 1917–18, when wartime metal requisitioning stripped copper and nickel from circulation entirely. Municipal and commercial issuers across the Rhineland stepped in to fill the void, and industrial firms like Wagner & Englert produced pieces primarily for wage payment and in-house transactions. Zinc was the only base metal left in sufficient supply.