Wissing's 1917 zinc notgeld emerged from the same wartime metal shortage that stripped German municipalities of their copper and nickel coinage — both metals redirected to munitions production under increasingly desperate Imperial requisition orders. Small communities like Wissing were left to fill the gap themselves, with local councils authorized to issue emergency pfennig denominations that the Reich could no longer supply. The dual Menzel references suggest at least two die varieties exist for this type, a detail worth confirming against known specimens before attributing.
Wissing's 1917 zinc notgeld emerged from the same wartime metal shortage that stripped German municipalities of their copper and nickel coinage — both metals redirected to munitions production under increasingly desperate Imperial requisition orders. Small communities like Wissing were left to fill the gap themselves, with local councils authorized to issue emergency pfennig denominations that the Reich could no longer supply. The dual Menzel references suggest at least two die varieties exist for this type, a detail worth confirming against known specimens before attributing.