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20 Heller Grein
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Grein (City of Grein) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | The left half of the note is occupied by a circular municipal seal of Grein, rendered in fine letterpress, showing a coat of arms with figures in a boat on water, supported by lateral figures, surrounded by a Latin legend. To the right, the denomination numeral '20' is printed in large bold type, flanked above by the word 'GUTSCHEIN' and the written value 'für zwanzig Heller', with the issuing authority 'der Stadtgemeinde GREIN.' below. The entire design is enclosed within a decorative meander-pattern border printed on a light foliate underprint. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed on plain brown paper stock without underprint, bearing the full text of the voucher conditions in justified letterpress type. A stamped serial number box in the upper right corner contains a letter prefix and five-digit number. The lower portion carries the printed signatures of the Bürgermeister and three Vizebürgermeister. |
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| Comments |
Grein is a small market town on the Danube in Upper Austria, and this note is a product of the acute small-change shortage that crippled Austria in the years immediately following the collapse of the Habsburg Empire. With the new Republic's monetary system in disarray and metal coinage practically absent from daily commerce, hundreds of Austrian municipalities printed their own Notgeld — emergency fractional currency — to keep local trade moving. The 20 Heller denomination targets exactly the gap left by vanished bronze coin.
Four signatories authenticate this single note, which is unusual even by Notgeld standards and reflects the collective civic authority the Stadtgemeinde needed to assert in the absence of central banking infrastructure.