50 pfennig

In the course of the First World War, small coins were disappearing from circulation by the public salvaging them and increasing difficulties in the production of official coinage, created retail trade problems in Germany. Local authorities therefore began to mint their own coins to remedy these difficulties. The Pomeranian town of Bobolice issued two series of almost identical coins with denominations of 10 and 50 pfennig in this period. Whilst there are no dates of issue, it is possible to hazard a guess that copies minted in zinc came out first, followed by the same denominations struck in iron. The featured 50 pfennig coin came from the second series. Following the example of other issuers, the coin's obverse bears the town's coat of arms and name in a mother-of-pearl ring, and the reverse displays the coin's denomination and information about its nature: a small replacement medium of exchange (German Kleingeldersatzmarke). The exact mintage of both series is not known, but Walter Funk in his catalogue of German replacement coins (Die deutschen Notmünzen, Regenstauf, 2012 p. 84) notes that by June 1917, a total of 9050 zinc 10 and 50 pfennig denominations remained in circulation. The decline in zinc production was due to the increased demand for this metal by the war economy and also due to the physical strength of iron and its chemical resistance. It is interesting to note that the 10 and 50 pfennig coins of the series struck in zinc also have been released in a very limited edition stamped in silver. This was probably caused by the growing replacement coins’ collector market, which did not only seek and desire special editions but also unusual and even faulty items. Mieszko Pawłowski