German Advertising Token

So I was looking at jimjamtwo's Germany (1921) 10 pf. black olive variety thread, and the stamp looked eerily familiar (though not the color variant). Something way more than the "I think I have one of those" type of familiar. But I couldn't place it. I sat there staring at the pic for what seemed like an eternity...

...until I looked down and saw this sitting on my monitor stand. Been sitting there for years, but I never really paid it any attention.



It's an advertising token from the Merz Werke company of Frankfurt. Anyone familiar with these things?

Seen some American ones on ebay. Promotional items from stores or service people. Did you have some plumbing done? (I'm guessing of course, PLOMBEN)

I am familiar with these. The principal is the same as the US versions used during the Civil War. With metal being needed for the war there was a shortage of coins. These circulated in place of coins. I saw a small collection (I would guess about 20)of these at a Stamp Club meeting years ago when I was a teenager. I haven't seen more than a half dozen since then.

A similar one sold a few weeks ago on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...xmx3BpU%253D

For anyone who doesn't want to click through the link, there were 8 bids and it sold for $20.50. Seems cheap. (?)

Encased postage : On that brilliant stamp site SCF

https://goscf.com/t/10814