Wednesday, May 02, 2007

The Beauty Of Money

I like money. I was reminded of this fact yesterday when my labyrinthine exercise in filing away the accumulated possessions of a lifetime reached the letter "M". And sure enough, there is a file marked "Money". Inside the file - amongst other things - was a 1919 20 Kronen Austrian banknote. As you can see from the illustration, it is truly a thing of beauty.


The keen-eyed amongst us will spot that the note is dated 2 Janner 1913. However, the even-keener-eyed will spot the red overprinting - if you can't make it out it is DEUTSCHOSTERREICH - which pinpoints the date of issue as that brief period after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire when the western bits of the Empire re-invented themselves as German Austria. Officially, German Austria existed for less than a year and the provisions of 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye prohibited the use of the term and re-named the country Austria. Of course, that was not the end of the story ... but you didn't come here for a history lesson.

Whatever your opinions on German Austria may be, it cannot be denied that they could design a stunning banknote. I cannot imagine that, in years to come, people will have battered old cardboard files containing long out of date credit cards - kept for no other reasons than their aesthetic qualities. But, there again, one should never try and second-guess the potential eccentricity of true collectors. Think of my Uncle Frank and his bus tickets.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous11:46 PM

    I have one of these, is it worth anything?

    ReplyDelete

Sand, Mud, Sea And Sky

  I've no idea who the child is or why the donkey seems to have lost its head, but that doesn't matter. It's just one of the pri...