What Is the Republik Osterreich Schilling?
The Republik Osterreich Schilling was the official currency in Austria from 1924 to 1938 and it made a comeback in 1945 until 1999. During World War II, the Schilling was replaced by the German Reichsmark.
The first schillings were made of silver, bronze and cupro-nickel. The reintroduced schillings were made of aluminum and they came in several different denominations. In 1957, Austria introduced the silver 10 schilling coins and in 1959, the 1 schilling coins made of aluminum and bronze were introduced. During the time of the schilling, 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500 silver schilling coins were produced. Schilling banknotes came in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500, 1,000 and 5,000.
The Austrian Mint also released a series of gold schillings, although most were never circulated or used for transactions. The gold schillings came in denominations of 25, 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 and only around 276,000 of these coins were ever made. Several gold schillings were made to help celebrate numerous events around the country and coins honoring the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna Boys Choir were also minted.
Austria stopped minting the Schilling in 1999 and, in 2002, made the switch over to the Euro, the official currency of Europe.
