This token was issued by a Jewish community entitling the bearer to a ration of unleavened bread (matsot) for the festival of Pessah, distributed to needy families as an act of communal solidarity. The production and free distribution of matsot to the poor (maot hittim) was a charitable obligation undertaken by community institutions before the festival. These tokens, struck in lead or brass, generally bear the weight or number of matsot owed and the name or emblem of the issuing kehilla. They belong to Jewish paramonetary numismatics and document the mechanisms of internal assistance in Central European communities.
