50 Gulden

The Wiener Stadt Banco, operating through the Banco Zettels Haupt-Kasse, issued this 50 Gulden note at a moment of severe fiscal strain — the Habsburg state had been financing near-continuous warfare since 1792, and paper money was multiplying well beyond any metallic backing. By 1800 the Banco Zettel had already lost significant credibility with the public, a slide that culminated in the Finanzpatent of 1811, which devalued all outstanding notes to one-fifth of face value.

Surviving examples from this issue are genuinely scarce. The combination of wartime economic pressure and eventual forced conversion meant most were redeemed, defaced, or simply discarded.