Ever wondered why the German 5 Pfennig coins made from 1949-2001 are brass plated-steel rather than a different metal? This coin is why. Following WWI Germany's economy quickly crashed under the heavy burden of the Versailles Treaty and German money became worthless. A fix was made which called for new coins and bills. This is one of the coins. Its predecessors were made of nickel and then zinc and finally aluminum-bronze, like this one. Zinc was then used again during the war but since it is more of an emergency/short lifespan metal, it had to be replaced with something else. So the government used the second most familiar metal (color) there was. Despite almost 11 Million of this coin being made and its worn state, this coin is still worth a couple of dollars. I would definitely pay $2.00 if I needed it for my collection.
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