40 Heller

Hart is a small commune in Upper Austria, and this 40 Heller note belongs to the vast wave of Notgeld issued by Austrian municipalities between 1919 and 1922 to address the acute small-change shortage that followed the collapse of the Habsburg economy. The central government simply could not produce enough low-denomination coinage fast enough, so thousands of towns printed their own emergency paper. Hart was one of hundreds that did so in 1920.

The Jaksc/Pick reference suffix "lb" indicates a recognized variant within the Hart series — likely a paper or color distinction from another 40 Heller issue of the same period. Franz Erssl signed as the responsible local official, a clerk or mayor rather than a banker.