10 Heller St. Thomas am Blasenstein

Sankt Thomas am Blasenstein is a village in Upper Austria with a population that barely exceeded a few hundred in 1920 — which makes the existence of a locally issued notgeld almost more remarkable than the piece itself. The post-WWI coin shortage drove even the smallest Austrian municipalities to print their own emergency fractional currency, and the Marktgemeinde here duly commissioned designer E. Frietzel of nearby Steyr to produce the artwork. Steyr was a natural source for such commissions, having its own active printing trade despite the economic chaos of the period.

Bürgermeister Fr. Ahorner's signature appears as the sole authorizing mark — no bank countersignature, no treasury stamp.