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50 Pfennig - Obergrainau u. Untergrainau
| Issuer | Municipalities of Obergrainau and Untergrainau |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | 1.1 mm |
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| Obverse description | Standing full-length figure of John the Baptist in the central field, depicted with a halo and raising one arm, rendered in low relief on a plain field. The date 1917 appears in the lower exergue beneath the figure. A circular legend in Latin script arcs around the upper periphery, reading GEMEINDEN OBER- & UNTERGRAINAU, all contained within a distinctive beaded border. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Obergrainau and Untergrainau are two small Bavarian villages at the foot of the Zugspitze, and their decision to issue a joint municipal notgeld in 1917 reflects just how far wartime metal shortages had penetrated into rural Germany. By mid-war, the imperial government had requisitioned copper and nickel so thoroughly that even villages of a few hundred inhabitants were left without adequate small change, forcing local authorities to improvise. Zinc was the fallback material across hundreds of such issues — workable, abundant enough, but prone to corrosion, which accounts for the surface degradation seen on most surviving examples.