50 Pfennig - Witten

Witten's 50 Pfennig zinc notgeld was issued in 1917, when the Imperial German government had already requisitioned copper and nickel for shell casings and munitions, forcing municipal authorities across the Reich to produce their own emergency coinage. Zinc was the compromise material — abundant, workable, but prone to corrosion, which explains why surviving examples in genuinely clean condition are harder to find than mintage figures might suggest.

The three Funck varieties (3A, 3B, 3C) likely reflect die differences rather than distinct emissions — a common complication with municipal zinc issues of this period, where production oversight was inconsistent.