Catalog
500 Gulden
| Issuer | Gemeinde Stadt Wien / Banco Zettel Haupt-Kasse |
|---|---|
| Year | 1796 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Vertical-format note with ornate typographic layout; the denomination "500" appears at top in large gothic numerals within a decorative border, followed by text panels in blackletter script reading "Das ist Fünf Hundert Gulden Wiener-Stadt Banco-Zettel". Multiple manuscript signatures and a small imperial eagle vignette appear in the lower portion, with serial number "No 1408" at foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Das ist Fünf Hundert Gulden Wiener-Stadt Banco-Zettel von Gmn. Stadt Wien Fünf Hundert Banco Zettel Haupt Kasse No 1408 |
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| Comments |
The Wiener Stadtbanco — formally the Banco Zettel Haupt-Kasse operating under municipal authority — was already under severe strain by the mid-1790s, its note circulation expanded far beyond the specie reserves nominally backing it. This 500 Gulden denomination would have represented a very large sum in daily commercial life, making it a wholesale instrument rather than anything passing through ordinary hands.
The series culminated in the catastrophic Bankozettel inflation of the Napoleonic period, when forced war financing drove the bank to suspend specie payments entirely. The 1811 Finanzpatent then wiped out noteholders at one-fifth face value — a devaluation that made pre-1800 high-denomination survivors particularly bitter relics for Austrian creditors.