Heller (coin)

The Heller, abbreviation hlr, was a coin, originally valued at half a pfennig, that was issued in Switzerland and states of the Holy Roman Empire, surviving in some European countries until the 20th century.

It was first recorded in 1200 or 1208^[1] or, according to Reiner Hausherr as early as 1189.^[2] The hellers were gradually so debased that they were no long silver coins. There were 576 hellers in a Reichsthaler ("imperial thaler"). After the Second World War, hellers only survived in Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

The heller also existed as a silver unit of weight equal to 1⁄512 of a Mark.

Notgeld (emergency paper money) was issued in Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein during the interwar period denominated in hellers.

^ Helmut Kahnt: Das große Münzlexikon von A bis Z. H. Gietl Verlag, Regenstauf 2005, p. 188.
^ Reiner Hausherr (ed.): Die Zeit der Staufer. Geschichte – Kunst – Kultur. Vol. 1: Katalog. Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart 1977, p. 158.

[1] Helmut Kahnt: Das große Münzlexikon von A bis Z. H. Gietl Verlag, Regenstauf 2005, p. 188.

[2] Reiner Hausherr (ed.): Die Zeit der Staufer. Geschichte – Kunst – Kultur. Vol. 1: Katalog. Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart 1977, p. 158.

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