Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Heller
| Issuer | Marktgemeinde Spitz an der Donau |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Local banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Printed in rose-red on white paper, the obverse carries a large central photographic vignette of Mitter-Arnsdorf on the Danube, showing the riverside townscape with a church steeple, manor buildings set against wooded hills, and a paddle steamer on the water. The title 'Wachauer Notgeld' in Gothic blackletter script appears at the top, with the locality name 'Mitter-Arnsdorf.' below it. The denomination '50 Heller' is stated in bold numerals at the lower left and right corners, flanking the issuing authority inscription and validity date in the lower panel. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse, printed in a lighter rose-pink tone, presents a plain text layout within a simple ruled border. A decorative interlaced Art Nouveau ornamental device occupies the upper centre beneath the heading panel. The body of the note carries a multi-line legal declaration in Gothic script affirming the liability of the Marktgemeinde Spitz a. d. Donau for redemption of the voucher, followed by three manuscript signatures of municipal officials below their printed titles. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Spitz an der Donau is a small wine-producing town on the Wachau stretch of the Danube, and this 50 Heller note belongs to Austria's vast Notgeld phenomenon — the wave of locally issued emergency small change that flooded the country between 1918 and 1922 when coin metal was stripped for the war effort and never properly restocked. Municipalities, businesses, and even individual farms printed their own fractional notes to keep daily commerce moving.
The Marktgemeinde series from Spitz is among thousands of such issues, many deliberately printed in limited quantities for collector sale rather than genuine circulation — a practice that became widespread enough to undermine the emergency purpose entirely.