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| Issuer | Gemeinde Kettenreith (Municipality of Kettenreith) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 50 Hellers (0.50) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed in blue and brown on cream paper, the obverse carries a lithographed vignette at left depicting a panoramic landscape view of Kettenreith with buildings set against a mountain backdrop, enclosed within a decorative Art Nouveau foliate border. To the right, the denomination numeral '50' appears within an ornamental cartouche flanked by the word 'Heller' on either side, above the large script legend 'Kassenschein der Gemeinde Kettenreith' and a guarantee text below. The right margin bears the vertical inscription 'FÜNFZIG HELLER', and two facsimile signatures of the Vizebürgermeister and Bürgermeister appear at the lower right, with the printer's imprint 'Lith. u. Druck von F. Seitenberg, Wien III.' at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Signature(s) | Johann Seibert and Gerhard Hirth |
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| Comments |
Kettenreith is a small Lower Austrian village, and this 50 Heller note is a product of the Notgeld wave that swept rural Austria after 1918 — local authorities filling a vacuum left by the collapse of the Habsburg monetary system and a severe shortage of small-denomination coinage. The printer, F. Seitenberg of Vienna's third district, handled numerous such municipal commissions during this period, working to modest but serviceable standards.
The two signatories, Johann Seibert and Gerhard Hirth, would have been local officials authenticating what was, legally speaking, a community obligation rather than a bank instrument. Redemption was theoretically guaranteed by the issuing municipality — a promise that depended entirely on that municipality's solvency.