Germany - Porcelain Notgeld - Ostsachsen - 5 Mark - 1921 - Brown - Uncirculated - Notgeld, (German for "emergency money" or "necessity money") was special money issued primarily in Germany and Austria to deal with economic crisis situations such as a shortage of small change or hyperinflation. It was not issued by the central bank (Reichsbank) but by various other institutions such as town savings banks, municipalities, private and state-owned firms. It was therefore not legal tender, but rather a mutually-accepted means of payment in a particular locale or site. Around the end of the 19th century one of the porcelain factories in the town of Meissen started making small medals out of hard terra cotta and porcelain. They proved popular and a series of several hundred items was produced over a period of about 60 years, the majority of which were produced in 1921 and 1922, at the beginning of a period of hyperinflation following the end of World War I.