During both wars, governments needed copper and nickel for bullets and tanks. So they swapped to cheaper metals like steel, zinc, or even cardboard (yes, cardboard!). This makes them super cool but also tricky to value.
Take the 1943 U.S. steel penny. It looks silvery, feels weird, and rusts if you breathe on it wrong. A beat-up one might be worth 10 cents. But a perfect, untouched one? Boom—up to $10,000. Why? Because most were destroyed after the war. It’s like finding a rare Pokémon card that everyone else threw away.
The German “Notgeld”
Germany had it rough after WW1. Hyperinflation made cash worthless, so towns printed their own emergency money called Notgeld. These weren’t official coins—they were made of porcelain, wood, or even silk. Imagine paying for bread with a silk handkerchief!
Two pounds 2014 | British Coins price guide and values | Coins and
Today, a ceramic Notgeld coin might sell for $20–$100. But it’s not about the cash value—it’s the history of a country that was literally printing money on anything that didn’t move. How wild is that?
