50 Heller Rabenstein

Austrian municipal notgeld at its most local — Rabenstein an der Pielach is a small market town in Lower Austria, and like hundreds of similar communities, it issued its own emergency scrip in 1920 when small-change coinage had effectively vanished from circulation following the collapse of the Habsburg monetary system. The Sommer printing firm in St. Pölten handled a considerable volume of this regional notgeld work, supplying neighboring municipalities with competent if unspectacular production.

The official stamp serves as the primary authentication device — without it, the note was considered void by the issuing commune. Many unstamped printer's remainders survive, which matters for attribution.