!!!Geldwesen
Money: Austria's influence on the development of money in the western
world dates back to the 1%%sup st/% century B.C. The oldest coins
made on Austrian soil were produced by the Celts. They were made of
silver and gold, sometimes bore the names of chieftains or kings and
were patterned after Greek and especially Macedonian models. The
Romans hardly stamped coins in Austria, but supplied themselves with
coins from their domestic mints.
\\
The origins of independent minting in Austria (province of Salzburg)
date back to the period around 1000. The first pfennig coins (pennies)
of the Babenbergs were produced in Krems, the then leading trading
centre, under Margrave Leopold III (1095-1136). They were the
predecessors of the Viennese pfennigs. The period of the Austrian
pfennig, from the 1%%sup st/% half of the 12%%sup th/% century to
the 2%%sup nd/% half of the 15%%sup th/% century, was dominated by
two kinds of coins: the Friesach pfennig and the Viennese pfennig,
which served as models for several secular and religious minters; the
Graz pfennig was influenced by the other pfennigs and, at times, also
used as a model. The ''Friesach pfennig'' originated from Inner
Austria and reached its peak around 1250. The ''Viennese pfennig'',
which eventually replaced the Friesach pfennig, was used from about
1200 and reached its peak around 1350; it dominated the regions along
the River Danube and lost its function as a monetary coin only at the
beginning of modern times.
\\
The medieval pfennigs were silver coins of different weight and
fineness, which were counted or weighed when used for payment. Units
of account were the "Pfund" (pound, for 240 pfennigs) and the
schilling (for 30 pfennigs); the pfennig was the only stamped coin.
\\
In Tyrol, the development of coins differed from the one mentioned
above: the kreuzer developed on the basis of the ''Veronese'' (or
''Bern'') ''pfennig'' and was later used throughout Austria. The
''kreuzer'', which was made of silver until 1760 and from then until
1892 of copper, was the basis for the silver coins of much higher
values in modern times. The most common coin for everyday use was the
three-kreuzer piece, or ''groschen'', which was always made of silver.
20 silbergroschen were equivalent to one ''gulden'' (fl.) of 60
kreuzers, which existed as a coin and unit of account until 1857. The
gulden was subsequently replaced by the silbergulden, which was
subdivided into 100 kreuzers ("Neukreuzers") according to the decimal
system (ratio: 100 fl. Konventionsmuenze (basic monetary unit) =
105 fl. Austrian currency).
\\
The first large silver coins were minted in Austria at the beginning
of the modern age. This marked a decisive step in the international
development of money. It originated from Hall in Tirol, spread to
Joachimsthal valley (Bohemia), where it assumed the name ''taler''or
"thaler", and became known throughout the world as a common coin (even
the dollar derives its name from the German word "taler"). Another
Austrian coin that gained importance beyond Austrian borders was the
"Konventionstaler" also called Maria-Theresien-Taler (or Maria
Theresa dollar), created under Maria Theresia as a basic monetary
unit; it existed under this name for a long time as a currency as
well. The Konventionstaler was equivalent to
2 "Konventionsgulden"; %%sup 1/%/<sub>3</sub> Konventionsgulden
was worth 20 kreuzer and also called "Kopfstueck"; it was much used in
everyday life.
\\
Before the introduction of the krone as currency (1892), the ''ducat''
(German: Dukaten) was Austria´s dominant gold coin; it came to
Austria during the 14%%sup th/% century and was modelled after
Italian coins (Venetian: "Ducatus" = duchy). The ducat continued to
exist as a currency coin even after the introduction of the gold krone
and is stamped even today with the year 1915 imprinted on it.
\\
After the end of the Seven Years´ War (1756-1763) copper was
widely used for coinage and paper money was introduced. From 1760 the
kreuzer (until then a silver coin) and its pieces were made of copper.
''Paper money'' was made up of consolidated notes ("Zetteln") issued
by the Vienna Stadtbanco. Their inflationary multiplication during the
Napoleonic Wars caused the national bankruptcy of 1811, which gave
rise to the temporary introduction of the so-called Viennese currency.
At that time the loss of value of the Bancozettel money eventually
exceeded 90 %, which meant an almost total financial loss.
\\
After the end of the Napoleonic Wars the National Bank, founded in
1816, started to withdraw the paper money used during the financial
crisis. A fixed ratio developed between the standard currency, which
existed until 1857, and the Viennese currency: 100 Gulden C. M.
("Conventionsmuenze", standard coin) = 250 gulden of Viennese
currency. After the Compromise with Hungary (1867) a new note-issuing
bank, the Austro-Hungarian bank, was established, the first notes of
which were denominated in guldens.
\\
In 1892 the gulden, used in Austria for centuries, was replaced by the
''krone'' of 100 hellers (1 gulden = 2 kronen), but not completely
withdrawn from circulation; the smaller units of the kronen currency
derived their popular names from the old kreuzer ("Sechserl" = 20
hellers, "Fuenferl" = 10 hellers). 1922 the kronen currency fell into
disuse ( Inflation).
\\
After the recovery from the great inflation by way of rehabilitation
measures introduced by I. Seipel, stabilizing the value of the gold
krone at 14,400 "Papierkronen" (paper kronen), The silver schilling
worth 10,000 paper kronen was introduced in 1924. At first its
sub-unit (1/100) was to be called "Stueber", but was finally named
groschen due to potential confusion of the abbreviations (S, s). In
1938 this first Austrian ''schilling'' was replaced by the reichsmark
(exchange ratio: 1 mark = 1.50 schilling).
\\
After World War II the schilling was re-introduced in a new form
and replaced the German currency. By means of currency laws and wage
and price agreements it had been possible to keep the schilling
relatively stable. Its value was also underscored by issuing silver
coins worth ATS 25 (1955), ATS 10 (1957) and ATS 5 (1960). In 1976 a
gold coin worth ATS 1,000 was issued to commemorate the
1,000%%sup th/% anniversary of the Babenbergs in Austria. The
low-quality metals and alloys used for stamping the smaller pieces
during and immediately after the Second World War were gradually
replaced by better and more durable ones. The first schilling notes
issued by the re-established National bank were brought into
circulation on December 13, 1945.
\\
On January 1,1999 the ''Euro'' was introduced in Austria and all the
other member states of the economic and monetary union as scriptural
money and currency unit. Euro notes and coins and euro cent coins will
be introduced from January 1, 2002.
!Literature
A. Loehr, Oe. Geldgeschichte, 1946; K. Bachinger and H.
Matis, Der oesterreichische Schilling, 1974; G. Probszt, Oe. Muenz-
und Geldgeschichte, %%sup 3/%1994; Geld. 800 Jahre Muenzstaette Wien,
exhibition catalogue, Vienna, 1994.
%%language
[Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Geldwesen|class='wikipage austrian']
%%
[{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}]
[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]