10 Heller Selztal

Selztal is a small railway junction village in Styria — its economic life organized almost entirely around the train depot. This 10 Heller note is a piece of wartime Notgeld, almost certainly issued between 1914 and 1921 when metal coinage effectively vanished from circulation across Austria and hundreds of municipalities, market towns, and even individual businesses were forced to print their own small-denomination paper to keep local commerce moving.

Emil Phesel operated a modest printing concern in Steyr, Upper Austria, and handled Notgeld commissions for several small communities in the region. Nothing about this issue is rare by design — survival depends entirely on whether local collectors bothered to save them.