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50 Heller Steyr
| Issuer | Stadtgemeinde Steyr (City of Steyr) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries a decorative border of repeated geometric motifs with the denomination '50' in each corner. A bold header panel reads 'Stadtgemeinde Steyr' at the top, below which the large Fraktur script legend 'Gutschein über Fünfzig Heller' dominates the centre field over a red guilloche underprint. Vignettes of two Steyr landmark towers flank the text block at left and right; a liability clause and counterfeiting warning appear in small script, followed by two manuscript signatures of the Vizebürgermeister and Bürgermeister above a red municipal seal, with validity date 'Gültig bis 30. Juni 1920.' in red along the lower panel. The printer's imprint 'E. PRIETZEL STEYR' appears at lower right. |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Red circular municipal seal of the City of Steyr applied to the reverse over the signatures of the Vizebürgermeister and Bürgermeister. |
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| Comments |
Austrian municipal notgeld from the hyperinflationary collapse that followed the dissolution of the Habsburg state. Steyr, an industrial city in Upper Austria with a long arms-manufacturing history, was among hundreds of municipalities forced to issue their own emergency fractional currency when the central government could no longer guarantee adequate coin supply — small denomination coinage had effectively vanished from circulation by 1919–1920.
Printed locally by E. Prietzel, which kept production costs down but also kept quality variable across the run. The official seal functions as the sole security feature, a thin barrier against counterfeiting that reflected how little was at stake given the note's trivial purchasing power even at issue.