Why WorglThe name

Why Worgl.

In July 1932, deep in the Depression, the Tyrolean town of Wörgl began paying for public works in notes of its own.

Its mayor, Michael Unterguggenberger, followed the economist Silvio Gesell: at the end of every month, whoever held a note had to buy a stamp worth 1% of its value to keep it valid.

Nobody wanted to be holding one when the month ran out, so the notes kept moving, and the town built houses, a reservoir, a ski jump and a bridge with them. Austria's central bank shut the scheme down in September 1933.

One stamp a month until the scheme ended. An illustration, not a replica of the note.

Worgl keeps the idea and drops the stamp.

01The stamp and the layer

A token that sits still expires.

A token that sits still does not lose 1% a month; it expires when its layer is dropped. A token that keeps moving lives on.

Wörgl, 1932Stamp scrip

WorglLayers of bits

Sitting still costs

1% of the note's value at the end of every month

The whole token, when its layer is dropped

Kept valid by

A stamp bought at the town hall and stuck on the note

A transfer one layer on, even to a fresh key of your own

So holders

Spent their notes before the month ran out

Move their tokens, or refresh them, before the layer goes

We spell it worgl, without the umlaut, so it types anywhere.

Sources: Wörgl on Wikipedia, for the start on 31 July 1932, the mayor, Gesell, the projects and the central bank's ending; and Wörgl Shillings on the P2P Foundation wiki, for the 1% monthly stamp, bought at the town hall. The two disagree on the end date, 1 or 15 September 1933, so this page says only September 1933.