Vienna, the capital of Austria, was long the seat of the Holy Roman Empire under the Habsburgs. The Holy Roman Empire was however, a fairly loose confederation of German states, of which Austria was merely the most important. The power of Austria and the Habsburgs did however decline, especially in the wake of the 30 Years War of 1618 to 1648. From the early 18th Century onwards, Prussia began to eclipse Austria as the most important German state.

The Early Napoleonic Wars went badly for the Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II, and many German territories were rested from Austrian control. In 1804, Francis II unilaterally abolished the Holy Roman Empire and founded the Austrian Empire in its place, with himself as Emperor 

Francis I.

After the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Metternich, Austria’s foreign minister played a large role in reshaping Europe, and securing Austria’s place as one of the great powers of Europe.

In August 1914, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated, along with his wife, which  led to a series of events culminating in the First World War. Austria-Hungary found itself on the losing side of this conflict, and the last Emperor, Charles I abdicated and went into exile, his son and the last crown prince of Austria died in 2011.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved in 1918 and Austria became one of the Empire’s successor states.

The history of Austrian coinage is a complicated one. The Holy Roman Empire used a variety of different standards. The Austrian Empire, prior to decimalisation in 1857 used a system consisting Heller, Pfennig, Kreuzer, Florin, Specie later as Thaler. 

The Austro-Hungarian gulden upon the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was introduced after 1857, Austro-Hungarian krone, introduced in 1892 and the Austrian crown was introduced in 1919.

In mediaeval Austria there were short and long schilling coins. Until 1857, the schilling was a currency unit for pfennigs, groschen and  kreuzer.

The schilling was established on 20 December 1924, and issued on 1 March 1925, it was abolished in the wake of Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, it was reintroduced after World War II on 30 November 1945 by the Allied Military, who issued paper money. 

Although the euro became the official currency of Austria in 1999, euro coins and notes were not introduced until 2002. 

The first 1 schilling coin was introduced in 1925, the second series 1 schilling introduced in between 1947 - 1952.

OBVERSE: The denomination in the center above the date with the country name above around the rim

Lettering: REPUBLIK·ÖSTERREICH 1 SCHILLING 199

Translation: Republic of Austria

Engraver: Edwin Grienauer 

REVERSE: Three edelweiss flowers native to Austria, and face value in words surrounding

Lettering: EIN SCHILLING -

Translation: One Schilling

Engraver: Ferdinand Welz

EDGE: Smooth

Designer: Hans Köttenstorfer (1911-1995), was Austrian medalist and painter artist.

Mint : Vienna, Austria 

Mintage in 1991 117 700 000

Country                      Austria 

Period                        Second Republic (since 1945)

Type                           Standard circulation coin

Years                        1959-2001

Value                          1 Schilling 

Currency                   Second Schilling (1945-2001)

Composition                  Aluminium bronze (91.5% Copper, 8.5% Aluminium)

Weight                        4.21 g

Diameter                      22.5 mm

Thickness                     1.5 mm

Shape                        Round

Orientation                 Medal alignment ↑↑

Demonetized               28 February 2002

References               KM# 2886, Schön# 77