The Privilegirte Oesterreichische National-Bank was itself only a few years old when this note was issued — founded in 1816 partly to manage the ruinous debt left by the Napoleonic wars and the disastrous 1811 state bankruptcy, which had wiped out roughly 80% of the value of its predecessor's paper currency. Credibility was the institution's core problem, and it spent its early decades trying to rebuild public confidence in Austrian paper.
Danzinger was among the principal engravers working for the bank in this period. The watermark was the primary anti-counterfeiting measure; intaglio printing techniques were still being refined for Austrian banknote production at this stage.
The Privilegirte Oesterreichische National-Bank was itself only a few years old when this note was issued — founded in 1816 partly to manage the ruinous debt left by the Napoleonic wars and the disastrous 1811 state bankruptcy, which had wiped out roughly 80% of the value of its predecessor's paper currency. Credibility was the institution's core problem, and it spent its early decades trying to rebuild public confidence in Austrian paper.
Danzinger was among the principal engravers working for the bank in this period. The watermark was the primary anti-counterfeiting measure; intaglio printing techniques were still being refined for Austrian banknote production at this stage.