50 Pfennig - Salzungen

Salzungen's iron notgeld of 1918 belongs to the flood of emergency municipal coinage that swept German towns during the final year of the war, when copper and nickel had long since been requisitioned for shell casings and military hardware. The Magistrat issued these pieces to address a genuine small-change crisis — Reichsbank coins had effectively vanished from everyday commerce, hoarded or melted as fast as they appeared.

Iron was the default of last resort, prone to rust and unpopular with the public, which is why high-grade survivors are rarer than their original mintages might suggest.