50 Heller Aschach a. d. Steyr

One of thousands of Austrian municipal notgeld issues that flooded the country between 1920 and 1922, this Aschach an der Steyr 50 Heller was a direct response to the chronic small-change shortage that gripped Austria in the aftermath of the First World War and the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy. The new republican government simply could not produce coinage fast enough to meet everyday transactional needs, so municipalities were left to fill the gap themselves.

Emil Prietzl in nearby Steyr handled the printing — a local commercial job, not a specialized security press. Three signatories authenticated each note: the Bürgermeister, Vizebürgermeister, and a member of the municipal council, which was the typical accountability structure for these issues.