50 Reichspfennig

Aluminium was chosen for this denomination in 1939 partly because Germany's nickel reserves were being aggressively redirected toward armaments production — a quiet but telling index of wartime industrial priorities. The metal was abundant domestically, or accessible through occupied territories, making it strategically preferable to anything harder to requisition.

Later dates in the run, particularly 1943 and 1944, are notably scarcer. Mint output across all denominations collapsed as Allied bombing disrupted the Berlin, Vienna, and Hamburg facilities in the final war years.