10 Heller Erla

Austrian Notgeld of this type emerged from a genuine shortage of small-denomination coinage following the First World War. The central government's inability to supply adequate fractional currency forced thousands of municipalities to print their own emergency issues — Erla among them. Most circulated only locally and were redeemable within a fixed period, after which unredeemed notes were typically retained as souvenirs rather than returned for destruction.

Erla is a small village in Upper Austria. Its issues are among the more obscure municipal Notgeld, with correspondingly low survival rates in collectible condition due to the cheap paper stock used across virtually the entire Austrian communal series.