History of Austrian Money
Antique Money in Today’s Austria
The first coins circulated on Austrian territory were minted by Celtic tribes (the Vindelici, Boii and Norici) in the 2nd century B.C. and were modeled on Greek and Macedonian coins. The center of the “regnum Noricum,” which existed in the 2nd …
Money and Trade during the Era of the Silver Pfennig
The eastern Frankish realm remained largely unaffected by the development of the Carolingian money system for quite some time. While trade thrived along the Danube, coins played a subordinate role. Payment was effected chiefly by barter, or metal bars were used. The …
The Coinage Crisis of the Middle Ages
A rich variety of images used on the Vienna pfennigs, as they were initially renewed periodically, generally once a year, and people had to be able to tell the coins apart. This renewal, known by the Latin term renovatio monetae, served to raise seigniorage, that is, …
The Emergence of Higher Denominations
As trade and commerce flourished in the High Middle Ages, the need for coins with a higher nominal value arose. Large transactions requiring a larger unit of account than the pfennig were settled by paying with pfennigs by weight or with pfennigs and silver bars. …
On the Threshold to the Modern Age – Innovative Tyrol
Even after Tyrol’s unification with Austria in 1363, it retained coinage sovereignty. The monetary crisis in the neighboring countries Bavaria, Salzburg and Austria had caused the value of the kreuzer to decline in Tyrol in the first half of the 15th century. It …
Maximilian I (1508 to 1519), who unified the Habsburg dominions, launched an administrative reform which included the establishment of a uniform monetary system. The Coinage Code he issued in 1510 for the Austrian duchies was issued in nearly identical form for Tyrol …
Reform and Crisis – the Era of Convention Coins
Expensive wars required to uphold Austrian hegemonic interests, an outdated financial system and a poorly developed economic system were the source of the Habsburg empire’s continued financial woes. In the early 17th century, Albrecht von Wallenstein, Emperor …
Reestablishing monetary stability after the events of 1848–49 was difficult for a number of reasons. Monetary policy was affected by the cost of maintaining Austria’s position as a major power in the Crimean war (1855–1856) and in the Italian war …
From the Schilling to the Euro
In September 1922 the Austrian government succeeded in securing financial aid from the League of Nations. The Geneva Protocols of October 4, 1922, specify the conditions for the extension of a 650 million gold krone loan. Austria was obligated to shore up its budget …
Literatur zur österreichischen Geldgeschichte
Michael Alram, Der Beginn der Münzwirtschaft in Österreich und die Geschichte des Kremser Pfennigs, in: Jahrbuch für Landeskunde von Niederösterreich, 60/61(1994/95), 9–41. Michael Alram, Geld aus aller Welt. Die Entwicklung zur Münze …