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50 Heller
| Issuer | Ortsgemeinde Unterwald |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Hellers (0.50) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed in red on grey fibrous paper, the obverse carries a central oval vignette of a village church with a bridge in the foreground, enclosed within a wreath-like decorative border. Flanking the central vignette on either side are stylised pendant ornamental devices with circular rosettes. The denomination numeral '50' is overprinted in bold black letterpress at the top centre between the words 'hel' and 'ler', beneath the Gothic-script heading 'GUTSCHEIN', with the issuing authority 'ORTSGEMEINDE UNTERWALD' set in Gothic lettering at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed on plain uncoated grey paper in black letterpress, with no pictorial vignette. The upper right corner bears the edition designation 'I. Aufl.' (First Issue), followed by the redemption notice in two centred lines, and the facsimile signature of the Ortsvorsteher (village headman) Franz Steininger at the lower centre. |
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| Comments |
Austrian Notgeld at the municipal level proliferated rapidly after 1918, when the collapse of the Habsburg economy left village councils scrambling to produce emergency small change. Unterwald's 50 Heller issue of 1920 is a product of that scramble — a locally authorized instrument filling the vacuum left by coin hoarding and metal shortages that had begun during the war and never fully resolved.
Franz Steininger's signature as validating official is the primary authentication mechanism. Without a countersignature or rubber stamp from a recognized municipal body, examples should be examined carefully — forgeries of popular Notgeld issues, while rare, are not unknown in the Austrian series.