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The crown (german: Krone, hu, korona, it, Corona, pl, korona, sl, krona, sh, kruna, cz, koruna, sk, koruna, ro, coroană) was the official currency of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
from 1892 (when it replaced the florin as part of the adoption of the
gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...
) until the dissolution of the empire in 1918. The subunit was one hundredth of the main unit, and was called a in
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
and a in Hungarian.


Name

The official name of the currency was (, pl. ) in Austria and in Hungary. The
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
form (plural ), abbreviated to on the smaller coins, was used for the coinage of the mostly German-speaking part of the empire known as Cisleithania. Currency names in other ethnic languages were also recognised and appeared on the banknotes: (pl. ) in
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...
, (pl. ) in
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
, , (pl. , ) in
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
, (pl. ) in
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
, (pl. ) in Slovene, (pl. ) in Croatian, , (singular and plural) in Serbian, (pl. ) in Slovak, and (pl. ) in
Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
. These terms all translate to the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
word ''crown''. The symbol of the currency was the abbreviation K. or sometimes Kr.


History


Introduction

After several earlier attempts the Austro-Hungarian Empire adopted the
gold standard A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the la ...
in 1892 according to a plan drawn up by the Hungarian Minister of Finance
Sándor Wekerle Sándor Wekerle (14 November 1848 – 26 August 1921) was a Hungarian politician who served three times as prime minister. He was the first non-noble to hold the office in Hungary. Biography He was born in Mór to a Danube Swabian family, i ...
. This plan included the introduction of the new currency, the crown. It consisted of 100 ''heller'' (German) or ''fillér'' (Hungarian). The value of the crown was set at K 2 = ƒ1 of the previous silver-based currency. From 1900 onward, crown notes were the only legal banknotes of the Empire.


First World War

The currency depreciated sharply as a result of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, which was financed mostly by the issue of War Bonds rather than through taxation. Consumer prices rose sixteenfold during the war, as the government had no hesitation in running the
Austro-Hungarian Bank The Austro-Hungarian Bank (german: Oesterreichisch-ungarische Bank, hu, Osztrák–Magyar Bank, cs, Rakousko-uherská banka, pl, Bank Austriacko-Węgierski, hr, Austro-Ugarska banka) was the central bank of the Habsburg Monarchy in the 19th a ...
's printing presses to pay its bills: this triggered a higher inflation rate than in other combatant countries.


After 1918


Austria

After the end of the First World War it was initially hoped that the crown might remain the common currency of the Empire's
successor state Succession of states is a concept in international relations regarding a successor state that has become a sovereign state over a territory (and populace) that was previously under the sovereignty of another state. The theory has its roots in 19th- ...
s, but in January 1919 the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...
(later
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
) became the first successor state to
overstamp An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or ticket after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative purpo ...
the Austro-Hungarian Bank's notes, limiting their validity to its own territory.
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
followed suit in February 1919, and on 12 March 1919 the new Republic of
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
stamped the notes circulating in its territory with "DEUTSCHÖSTERREICH". The Austrian economy did not stabilise after the war, and a period of
hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...
followed: the
money supply In macroeconomics, the money supply (or money stock) refers to the total volume of currency held by the public at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include Circulation (curren ...
increased from 12 to 30 billion crowns in 1920, and to about 147 billion crowns at the end of 1921. In August 1922 consumer prices were 14,000 times greater than before the start of the war eight years earlier. The highest-denomination banknote issued was the 500,000 crown note, issued in 1922. Faith in the currency had been lost, and people spent money as fast as they received it. In October 1922 Austria secured a loan of 650 million gold crowns from the
League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
, with a League of Nations Commissioner supervising the country's finances. This stabilized the currency at a rate of 14,400 paper crowns to 1 gold crown. On 2 January 1923 the Austrian National Bank (Österreichische Nationalbank) began operations, taking over control of the currency from the Austro-Hungarian Bank which had gone into liquidation. In December 1923 the Austrian Parliament authorised the government to issue silver 5,000, 10,000, and 20,000 crown coins which were to be designated ''half-schilling'', ''
schilling Schilling may refer to: * Schilling (unit), an historical unit of measurement * Schilling (coin), the historical European coin * Austrian schilling, the former currency of Austria * A. Schilling & Company, an historical West Coast spice firm acquir ...
'', and ''double schilling''. The
schilling Schilling may refer to: * Schilling (unit), an historical unit of measurement * Schilling (coin), the historical European coin * Austrian schilling, the former currency of Austria * A. Schilling & Company, an historical West Coast spice firm acquir ...
became the official currency of Austria currency on 20 December 1924, at a rate of 10,000 crowns to 1 schilling.


Over-stamped Austro-Hungarian krone


Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina

In these territories of Austria-Hungary, which became part of the
Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...
(later
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
) in 1918, Krone banknotes were stamped by the new authorities and became issues of the Serb, Croat and Slovene crown. In 1920 this was replaced by the
dinar The dinar () is the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, and its historical use is even more widespread. The modern dinar's historical antecedents are the gold dinar and the silver dirham, the main coin of ...
at a rate of 1 dinar = 4 crowns.


Czechoslovakia

In
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
the currency was superseded by the Czechoslovak crown, at par. The names of the present-day ''koruna'' and ''haléř'' (in the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
) and the pre-Euro ''koruna'' and ''halier'' (in
Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
) were the names of the main unit and subunit of the Austro-Hungarian currency respectively.


Fiume

The
Fiume Krone The Fiume Krone ( hr, Riječka kruna, it, Corona Fiumana, abbreviated Cor. or FIUK) was introduced in the Free State of Fiume on 18 April 1919 by the National Council of Fiume who effectively exercised power in the City through stamping of the ...
(Corona Fiumana) - (Cor., FiuK) was introduced on 18 April 1919 by over-printing the existing Austro-Hungarian crown notes, under the authority of the Italian National Council of Fiume who ruled the city. There were two issues: the 1919/21 Issue (1 and 2 crowns), and the 1920 Issue (2-, 10-, 20-, 50-, 100-, and 1,000 crowns). The over-printed notes were in circulation from April 1919 to February 1921. In September 1920 the
Italian Lira The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually ...
was introduced as the official currency. The unofficial exchange rate to the lira was 2.5 FiuK to 1 lira.


Hungary

In
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
the Austro-Hungarian currency was overstamped and then replaced by the
Hungarian korona The Hungarian korona (Hungarian: ''magyar korona''; ''korona'' in English is "crown") was the replacement currency of the Austro-Hungarian Krone/korona amongst the boundaries of the newly created post-World War I Hungary. It suffered a serious i ...
at par. The Hungarian korona was devalued by hyperinflation, due to the consequences of World War I and the
Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (french: Traité de Trianon, hu, Trianoni békeszerződés, it, Trattato del Trianon) was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference and was signed in the Grand Trianon château in ...
. It was replaced by the pengo on 21 January 1927, at a rate of 12,500 crowns to 1 pengoe.


Romania

In
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
there were two issues of over-stamped notes: the 1919 First Provisional Issue (stamp on the Austrian side of the note), and the 1919 Second Provisional Issue (stamp on the Hungarian side). Both issues included 10-, 20-, 50-, 100-, 1,000, and 10,000 crown denominations. The issue dates of the base Austro-Hungarian krone notes used ranged from 1902 to 1918.


Complete denomination sets of over-stamped notes


Historic exchange rates and prices


Coins


Banknotes

Crown banknotes were designed and printed in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
from 1900 onward. These banknotes were used throughout the Monarchy. All banknotes issued by the
Austro-Hungarian Bank The Austro-Hungarian Bank (german: Oesterreichisch-ungarische Bank, hu, Osztrák–Magyar Bank, cs, Rakousko-uherská banka, pl, Bank Austriacko-Węgierski, hr, Austro-Ugarska banka) was the central bank of the Habsburg Monarchy in the 19th a ...
were bilingual in German and Hungarian: the denomination was also indicated in other languages of the Monarchy. Until World War I, all banknotes had a German and a Hungarian side; during the war, some banknotes were issued with text in both languages on either side. The designers included
Koloman Moser Koloman Moser (; 30 March 1868 – 18 October 1918) was an Austrian artist who exerted considerable influence on twentieth-century graphic art. He was one of the foremost artists of the Vienna Secession movement and a co-founder of Wiener Werks ...
, Rudolf Rössler, Josef Pfeiffer and László Hegedűs. The engraver was Ferdinand Schirnböck.


References


Notes


Sources

* *


External links

*
bankjegy.szabadsagharcos.org
(Hungarian banknote catalog) *
www.numismatics.hu
(Roman and Hungarian related numismatic site) *
papirpenz.hu
(pictures of Hungarian banknotes) *

(homepage of the Hungarian Coin Collectors' Society)

(pictures of Austro-Hungarian banknotes at Ron Wise's World Paper Money Homepage)
geldschein.at
(nearly 1000 pictures of Austro-Hungarian banknotes + collectors information)
austriannotes.com - paper money and history of Austria
(Austrian banknotes explained and historical background information) {{DEFAULTSORT:Austro-Hungarian Crown Currencies of Austria
Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
Economic history of Austria 1892 establishments in Austria-Hungary 1918 disestablishments in Austria-Hungary