Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
20 Coroane Bukovina
| Issuer | Romania (Bukovina provisional issue, overprint on Austro-Hungarian Bank note) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1919 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Coroane |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The obverse reproduces the Austrian-issued 20 Kronen note of 2 January 1913, with a central vignette of a young woman in three-quarter portrait, rendered in an Art Nouveau engraved style against an ornate guilloche frame, with the large numeral '20' to the left. A circular Romanian provisional stamp reading 'ROMANIA / TIMBRU SPECIAL' with the Romanian coat of arms has been applied in violet ink to validate the note for circulation in Bukovina. Multilingual denomination inscriptions in nine languages run along the lower portion of the design. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse of the underlying Austro-Hungarian 20 Korona note is printed predominantly in blue and red tones, with the Hungarian text 'HUSZ KORONA' as the central inscription, flanked by an elaborate guilloche underprint. A portrait vignette of a young woman appears at the right, mirroring the obverse composition in style. The Hungarian coat of arms is positioned at the upper left, alongside the bank name 'OSZTRAK-MAGYAR BANK' in vertical lettering, with three manuscript signatures of bank officials below. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
When Romanian forces occupied Bukovina in November 1918, the region's monetary supply remained entirely Austro-Hungarian. Rather than wait for new currency to arrive, local authorities in 1919 applied a "ROMANIA / BUCOVINA" overprint to circulating Austro-Hungarian 20 Kronen notes, effectively nationalizing paper already in people's pockets. The overprint was a political act as much as a monetary one — Bukovina had been contested between Romania, Ukraine, and Austria, and stamped banknotes were a rapid, cheap way to assert administrative control on the ground.
The printed date of 30 April 1945 in catalog records refers to a cataloging or archival entry, not issue date — the notes themselves predate that by over two decades.