50 Heller Weinzierl am Walde

Weinzierl am Walde is a village in Lower Austria with a population that barely exceeded a few hundred souls in 1920 — precisely the kind of community that found itself forced into emergency currency production when the postwar coin shortage became acute. Austria's central authorities could not supply small change fast enough, so thousands of municipalities printed their own Notgeld, each responsible for its own redemption.

The official stamp is the only thing separating this from unauthorized scrip. That stamp — applied by the local Gemeinde office — was the legal authentication mechanism, and notes lacking a clear impression were sometimes refused even within the issuing village.