10 Schilling

Austria's first postwar schilling notes were rushed into circulation before the country had stabilized politically or economically — the Allied occupation was still dividing Vienna into four administrative zones when this note appeared. The Oesterreichische Nationalbank had been reestablished by provisional government decree in July 1945, and getting currency into circulation quickly was a practical necessity, not a considered monetary exercise.

Josef Seger, a Viennese graphic artist, was responsible for several denominations in this 1945–46 series. Print quality across the run is notoriously uneven, a direct consequence of postwar material shortages affecting paper stock and ink consistency.