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50 Halerzy Bielsko
| Issuer | Bielsko, Municipality of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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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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| Reverse description | Red letterpress on green-blue underprint. The reverse carries the equivalent redemption text in German, mirroring the content of the obverse in all substantive respects, in keeping with the bilingual character of the municipality of Bielsko at the time of issue. |
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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.