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20 Heller Stiftung
| Issuer | Gemeinde Stiftung bei Leonfelden |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Currency | Krone (1918-1921) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Gemeinde Stiftung bei Leonfelden Zwanzig 20 Heller. Aus guter, alter Zeit. GÜLTIG BIS 31. DEZEMBER 1920. |
| Reverse description | Printed in green on cream paper, the reverse is headed by the word 'Gutschein' in ornate Gothic script within a decorative cartouche. The main field carries a multi-line text in German script affirming the municipality's liability and redemption obligation per a council resolution of 4 July 1920, followed by three manuscript signatures of the Vize-Bürgermeister, Bürgermeister, and a Gemeinderat member. Decorative corner ornaments with floral and geometric motifs frame the composition, with a lower cartouche containing a four-line dedicatory verse. |
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| Comments |
Leonfelden — now Bad Leonfelden — is a small market town in Upper Austria near the Bohemian border, and in 1920 its local community foundation (Gemeinde Stiftung) was issuing its own emergency small change notes. This was Notgeld territory in every sense: the post-WWI collapse of the Habsburg monetary system left Austrian towns desperately short of low-denomination coinage, and local bodies of every description — municipalities, savings banks, even charitable foundations — stepped in to fill the gap.
The Stiftung designation is the telling detail here. A charitable foundation issuing circulating currency is unusual even by Notgeld standards, suggesting the town's regular municipal apparatus either lacked the authority or the organizational capacity to act directly.