20 Heller Altaist

Austrian municipal Notgeld of this type was born out of the acute small-change shortage that followed the First World War, when hoarding drained coins from everyday commerce almost entirely. Altaist, a small commune in Upper Austria, issued these Heller notes as a local stopgap — an arrangement that gave tiny municipalities an unexpected moment of administrative autonomy over their own money supply.

Three signatures were required for validity, which for a village-scale issuer was no formality: Bürgermeister Dielwinger and both Vizebürgermeisters signing together reflects the cautious legitimacy-building typical of first-time issuers with no banking infrastructure behind them. Printed by F. Kling in Linz-Urfahr, a press that handled numerous Upper Austrian municipal issues during this period.