Catalog
10 Heller Gresten
| Issuer | Marktgemeinde Gresten (Market Town of Gresten) |
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| Year | |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Brown letterpress print on grey paper. The centre is occupied by the municipal coat of arms of Gresten — a heraldic shield bearing a fortified gatehouse flanked by two towers with a standing figure above — set within an ornate scrollwork frame. The denomination '10 Heller' appears in large bold numerals to the left and right of the central vignette, beneath a banner cartouche inscribed 'Marktgemeinde Gresten'. Below the design, a two-line warning legend and the validity date are printed in italic script. |
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| Obverse lettering | Marktgemeinde Gresten. 10 Heller Nachahmung wird gesetzlich bestraft. Gültig bis 31. Dezember 1920. |
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| Comments |
Gresten is a small market town in Lower Austria, and like hundreds of similar municipalities during World War I, it issued its own emergency paper money — Notgeld — when the Austro-Hungarian state could no longer keep small-denomination coinage in circulation. The hoarding of metal during the war years created a practical void that towns, parishes, and businesses filled themselves, often printing on whatever stock was locally available.
The Jaksch reference places this firmly within the documented Lower Austrian municipal issues. Survival rates for these small-denomination Notgeld pieces vary considerably — many were redeemed and pulped, others survived simply because collectors scooped them up almost immediately after issue.