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2 Kronen (CF stamp)
| Issuer | Città di Fiume |
|---|---|
| Year | overprint on 1917 |
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| Size | 124 × 83 mm |
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| Obverse description | The German-language face of the Austria P-21 base note (Wien, 1. März 1917) presents the denomination numeral '2' at top centre flanked by two female portrait medallions in ornate octagonal frames; the central panel carries 'ZWEI KRONEN' in bold letterpress above the issuing authority inscription 'OESTERREICHISCH-UNGARISCHE BANK', two facsimile signatures, and the imperial eagle arms. Fine guilloche border work frames the entire composition. On examples where the 'CITTÁ DE FIUME' handstamp was applied to this side rather than the Hungarian face, it is regarded as an unofficial application. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ZWEI KRONEN OESTERREICHISCH-UNGARISCHE BANK WIEN, 1. MÄRZ 1917 CITTÁ DE FIUME (Translation: City of Fiume) |
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| Comments |
Fiume's postwar status was genuinely unresolved in a way that few territorial disputes in modern European history matched. After the Austro-Hungarian collapse in 1918, the city was claimed simultaneously by Italy and the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, with neither side able to enforce a settlement. Local authorities took the practical step of overprinting existing Austro-Hungarian Kronen notes with a municipal stamp — the "Città di Fiume" designation — to assert administrative control over currency circulating in the city while the diplomats argued.
D'Annunzio's occupation from September 1919 complicated matters further. The CF stamp predates that episode, emerging from the immediate post-armistice vacuum when the city had no functional banking authority and needed some way to distinguish locally sanctioned notes from the flood of Austro-Hungarian paper still moving through the Adriatic region.