During the terrifying First World War, the German Empire seized vast territories in the west of the Russian Empire.
The seized and occupied lands included the Baltic region, Poland, part of Ukraine, and Belarus. In July 1915, German Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg (a predecessor of Adolf Hitler) ordered that these occupied territories be organized into a special area called Oberbefehlshaber der gesamten deutschen Streitkraefte im Osten (territories under the authority of the Supreme Command of the German armed forces in the East).
Administering the occupied lands—ethnically complex and with a total population of more than 3 million people—proved to be a rather difficult task for the Germans. Besides exploiting captured industrial and financial resources, one of the most important goals was to make as full a use as possible of the labor force. Common practices included the forced seizure of grain and livestock from peasants, as well as sending the population to forced labor.
Devastation reigned in the occupied, plundered territories. To revive the economy in the occupied areas, the authorities of the German Empire decided to introduce a new local currency into circulation. The coins were called OST kopecks.
Because wartime brought an acute shortage of non-ferrous metals, the coins were minted from the simplest and cheapest material available in sufficient quantities—ordinary iron.
Minting was carried out by two mints within the German Empire itself—Berlin and Hamburg. Traditionally, the mint was indicated by a Latin letter at the bottom of the coin’s obverse:
- Berlin (letter "A")
- Hamburg (letter "J")