Catalog
50 Halerzy Bielsko
| Issuer | Bielsko, Municipality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
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| Value | 50 Heller (0.50) |
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| Obverse description | Red letterpress on green-blue underprint. The face carries a bilingual municipal emergency issue text in Polish, stating the note's redemption terms, issuing authority, and date of issue (1 May 1919), with two manuscript signatures placed side by side at the centre. The denomination '50 HALERZY' appears at the top, with reference to the National Council of the Duchy of Cieszyn authorising the issue. |
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| Obverse lettering | 50 HALERZY Ta miejska nota wymienioną bęndzie do dnia 31. Lipca 1919 na równą kwotę w ustawowej walucie Koronowej w Kasie Oszczędności Miasta Bielska. Bielsko, I Maja 1919, za gminę Miasta Bielska Burmistrz: Za zezwoleniem Rady Narodowej Księstwa Cieszyńskiego. za wydział skarbowy: (Translation: 50 HELLER This city note will be exchanged until July 31, 1919 for an equal amount in statutory Krone currency in the savings bank of the city of Bielsko. Bielsko, 1 May 1919, for the community of the City of Bielsko Mayor: With the permission of the National Council of the Duchy of Cieszyn. for the tax department:) |
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| Comments |
Bielsko's 50 halerzy note belongs to the chaotic transitional moment after the collapse of Austrian rule, when dozens of Silesian municipalities scrambled to issue their own emergency paper — Notgeld in all but name — to cover local coin shortages. The halerz itself was the Austrian heller renamed for Polish use, a unit already being phased out before the ink was dry on most of these local emissions.
Bielsko at this exact moment was a contested city: its German-speaking population and mixed industrial character made it a flashpoint in the dispute between Poland and Czechoslovakia over Cieszyn Silesia, a conflict that ran through 1919 into 1920.