Iron jewelry was produced in Berlin from the early 1800s by the Berlin royal foundry. Originally used as mourning jewelry for its dark color, it took on patriotic or nationalist connotations during the Napoleonic Wars, when the Prussian government urged citizens to donate gold jewelry to fund the war effort. In return, donors would be given iron jewelry pieces as a token of their contribution. Though the popularity of this style declined after 1850, the gold-for-iron exchange program was revived in 1916 as part of German mobilization during World War I. Those who exchanged gold and other precious metals for paper money received an iron medallion designed by Hermann Hosaeus (1875-1958). The recto features a kneeling woman surrendering a necklace and the inscriptions "IN EISERNER ZEIT". The verso bears the inscription "GOLD GAB ICH ZUR WEHR EISEN NAHM ICH ZUR EHR," which can be translated as "Gold I gave for the fight, iron I took for honor."