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500.000 Kronen
| Issuer | Oesterreichisch-ungarische Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Ferdinand Schirnböck |
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| Obverse description | At right, an intaglio vignette after Karl Sterrer, engraved by Ferdinand Schirnböck, presents a mother with three children in a classical allegorical composition. The central panel carries the denomination FÜNFHUNDERTTAUSEND KRONEN in Gothic lettering over guilloche underprint ornaments, with the numeral 500.000 repeated in each corner. The issuer name OESTERREICHISCH-UNGARISCHE BANK and the date Wien, 20. September 1922 appear in the lower text block, accompanied by an anti-counterfeiting warning inscription. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is covered entirely by intricate geometric guilloche work in muted blue-green and grey tones, arranged in a symmetrical grid of rosette medallions and latticework panels. A large central oval guilloche carries the bold numeral 500.000, with the serial number and prefix printed in red at centre. The denomination 500.000 KRONEN is repeated in the lower margin across three positions. |
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| Comments |
By the time this note entered circulation, Austria's postwar inflation had already destroyed the prewar krone many times over. The 500,000 Kronen denomination — unthinkable a decade earlier — was itself overtaken within months; the currency collapsed entirely in 1922–23, and the new Schilling was introduced in 1925 at a conversion rate of 10,000 Kronen to 1 Schilling.
Schirnböck was among the finest intaglio engravers of the Vienna school, and the quality of the plate work here sits in stark contrast to the worthlessness of the denomination at issue. Sterrer and Junk were both accomplished Viennese artists — the pairing of serious design talent with a hyperinflationary emergency note is one of the quiet ironies of the series.