Austro-Hungarian krone
The Krone or korona was the official currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1892 until the dissolution of the empire in 1918. The subunit was one hundredth of the main unit, and was called a Heller in the Austrian and a fillér in the Hungarian part of the Empire.
Name
The official name of the currency was Krone in Austria and Osztrák–magyar korona in Hungary. The Latin form Corona, abbreviated to Cor. 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: koruna in Czech, korona in Polish, корона, korona in Ukrainian, corona in Italian, krona in Slovene, kruna in Croatian, круна, kruna in Serbian, koruna in Slovak, and coroană in Romanian. These terms all translate to the English 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 in 1892 according to a plan drawn up by Minister of Finance Sándor Wekerle. This plan included the introduction of the new currency, the Krone. It consisted of 100 Heller or Fillér. The value of the Krone was set at 2 Kronen = 1 Gulden of the previous silver-based currency. From 1900 onward, Krone notes were the only legal banknotes of the Empire.First World War
The currency depreciated sharply as a result of the First World War, 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'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 Krone might remain the common currency of the Empire's successor states, but in January 1919 the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes became the first successor state to overstamp the Austro-Hungarian Bank's notes, limiting their validity to its own territory. Czechoslovakia followed suit in February 1919, and on 12 March 1919 the new Republic of Austria stamped the notes circulating in its territory with "DEUTSCHÖSTERREICH".The Austrian economy did not stabilise after the war, and a period of hyperinflation followed: the money supply increased from 12 to 30 billion Kronen in 1920, and to about 147 billion Kronen 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 Kronen 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 Kronen from the League of Nations, with a League of Nations Commissioner supervising the country's finances. This stabilized the currency at a rate of 14,400 paper Kronen to 1 gold Krone. On 2 January 1923 the Austrian National Bank 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-kronen coins which were to be designated half-Schilling, Schilling, and double Schilling. The Schilling became the official currency of Austria currency on 20 December 1924, at a rate of 10,000 Kronen 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 in 1918, Krone banknotes were stamped by the new authorities and became issues of the Serb, Croat and Slovene krone. In 1920 this was replaced by the dinar at a rate of 1 dinar = 4 Kronen.Czechoslovakia
In Czechoslovakia the currency was superseded by the koruna, at par. The names of the present-day koruna and haléř and the pre-Euro koruna and halier are derived from the Austro-Hungarian Krone and Heller.Fiume
The Fiume Krone - was introduced on 18 April 1919 by over-printing the existing Austro-Hungarian Krone notes, under the authority of the Italian National Council of Fiume who ruled the city. There were two issues: the 1919/21 Issue, and the 1920 Issue. The over-printed notes were in circulation from April 1919 to February 1921. In September 1920 the Italian Lira was introduced as the official currency. The unofficial exchange rate to the lira was 2.5 FiuK to 1 Lira.Hungary
In Hungary the Austro-Hungarian currency was overstamped and then replaced by the Hungarian korona at par. The Hungarian korona was devalued by hyperinflation, due to the consequences of World War I and the Treaty of Trianon. It was replaced by the pengő on 21 January 1927, at a rate of 12,500 korona to 1 pengő.Romania
In Romania there were two issues of over-stamped notes: the 1919 First Provisional Issue, and the 1919 Second Provisional Issue. Both issues included 10, 20, 50, 100, 1000, and 10,000 korona denominations. The issue dates of the base Austro-Hungarian krone notes used ranged from 1902–18.Complete denomination sets of over-stamped notes
Historic exchange rates and prices
| Year | Rates |
| 1892 |
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| 1896 | |
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| 1921 |