Written by the Maison Or & Bijoux Cannes team · updated
| Country | Austria-Hungary |
|---|---|
| Metal | 900‰ gold, alloyed with 100‰ copper |
| Weight | 3.3875 g (10 corona); 6.7751 g (20 corona); 33.8753 g (100 corona) |
| Fine gold | 3.0488 g; 6.0976 g; 30.4878 g |
| Diameter | 19 mm; 21 mm; 37 mm |
| Years struck | 20 corona from 1892, 10 corona from 1892 (or 1896 according to catalogues) to 1911, 100 corona from 1908 to 1914; restrikes dated 1912 (10 corona) and 1915 (20 and 100 corona) |
| Mint | Vienna for Austria, no mint mark; Kremnitz (Körmöcbánya, now Kremnica), mark “K·B”, for Hungary |
| Edge | “VIRIBVS VNITIS”, incuse (20 and 100 corona); ornaments (10 corona) |
| Engravers | Anton Scharff (or Josef Tautenhayn), Stefan Schwartz, Rudolf Marschall |
| References | KM 2806 (20 corona 1892-1905), KM 2818 (20 corona 1909-1915), KM 2827 (20 corona 1916, shield without the order chain, according to CoinVarieties), KM 2816 (10 corona 1909-1912), KM 2819 (100 corona 1909-1915), KM 2812 (100 corona 1908); KM 491 (Hungarian 100 korona) |
The corona (krone) is the currency Austria-Hungary adopted in 1892, and its gold coins come in three sizes: 10, 20 and 100 corona, all 900‰ fine. On the Austrian coins you will see Franz Joseph's profile, the double-headed eagle and the denomination in Latin, “CORONÆ”. A 10 corona dated 1912, or a 20 or 100 corona dated 1915, is almost always an official restrike by the Vienna Mint, struck long after the empire ended.
Head of Franz Joseph I facing right: laureate on the first 20 corona (1892-1905), bare on the 1909-1916 types, with the signature “ST·SCHWARTZ” below the neck. Latin legend: “FRANC·IOS·I·D·G·IMP·AVSTR·REX BOH·GAL·ILL·ETC·ET AP·REX HVNG”, Franz Joseph I, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, Galicia, Illyria, etc., and Apostolic King of Hungary.
Crowned double-headed eagle with the imperial shield on its breast, sword and sceptre in one claw, orb in the other. Above, the denomination and year in Latin and Roman numerals (“X CORONÆ”, “XX CORONÆ” or “C CORONÆ”, then “MDCCCCXV” for 1915); below, the number in figures, the abbreviation “COR.” and the year in Arabic numerals.
For Austria, the dates that matter are those that are not the frozen restrike date: every 20 corona from 1892 to 1914, every 100 corona from 1908 to 1914 and every 10 corona before 1912 was struck in the year shown. The 1909-1914 100 corona were struck in only a few thousand pieces a year, and the 1912 20 corona in fewer than 5,000.
| Coin | Type | Year | Mintage | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 corona | Laureate head | 1892-1905 | 32,956,441 in total | Very uneven yearly mintages. |
| 20 corona | Laureate head | 1893 | 7,872,023 | Largest year of the type. |
| 20 corona | Laureate head | 1900 | 26,537 | Smallest year of the type. |
| 10 corona | Marschall | 1909 | 2,319,872 | Single-year type. |
| 10 corona | Schwartz | 1909 | 192,135 | |
| 10 corona | Schwartz | 1910 | 1,055,387 | |
| 10 corona | Schwartz | 1911 | 1,285,667 | Last year with a known original mintage. |
| 10 corona | Schwartz | 1912 | unknown | Frozen date of the restrikes. |
| 20 corona | Schwartz | 1909 | 102,404 | |
| 20 corona | Schwartz | 1910 | 386,031 | Most common date of the type. |
| 20 corona | Schwartz | 1912 | 4,460 | Low mintage. |
| 20 corona | Schwartz | 1914 | 82,104 | |
| 20 corona | Schwartz | 1915 | unknown | Frozen date of the restrikes; original striking disputed. |
| 20 corona | Schwartz | 1916 | 71,763 | Last year of the reign; shield without the order chain (KM 2827). |
| 100 corona | Jubilee (Marschall) | 1908 | 16,026 | Allegorical reverse, struck as proof. |
| 100 corona | Schwartz | 1909 | 3,203 | |
| 100 corona | Schwartz | 1911 | 11,165 | Largest mintage of the type. |
| 100 corona | Schwartz | 1913 | 2,696 | |
| 100 corona | Schwartz | 1914 | 1,195 | Smallest mintage of the type. |
| 100 corona | Schwartz | 1915 | unknown | Frozen date of the restrikes. |
| 100 korona (Hungary) | Standing king, K·B | 1908 | 4,038 | Official restrikes known for 1907 and 1908. |
Mintages from Stash of Coins (entries based on Numista), cross-checked with CoinVarieties for 1911 (10 corona), 1914 (100 corona) and 1916 (20 corona). The sources consulted give no figures for the restrikes. For 1915, the Krause catalogue lists every 20 corona as a restrike, while a Swiss auction house described one piece as an original strike.
In August 1892, Austria-Hungary replaced the florin (gulden) with the corona, divided into 100 heller, and moved to the gold standard. The law set one kilogram of fine gold at 3,280 corona, which gives the 10 corona its 3.0488 g of fine gold. The florin remained legal tender until 1 January 1900, at two corona to the florin.
The 20 corona appeared in 1892. The 10 corona bears the dates 1892-1893, 1896-1897 and 1905-1906 according to Wikipedia (de); Numista regards the 1892 and 1893 pieces as patterns. The 100 corona came only in 1908, for the sixtieth anniversary of Franz Joseph's reign: its allegorical reverse bears the dates 1848 and 1908 and the legend “DVODECIM LVSTRIS GLORIOSE PERACTIS” (twelve lustra gloriously completed). In 1909, after a 10 and a 20 corona with Rudolf Marschall's portrait, all three denominations took Stefan Schwartz's portrait and the imperial eagle.
Original striking ended in 1912 for the 10 corona, 1914 for the 100 corona and 1916 for the 20 corona. Other gold coins of the same period include the Napoleon III 20 francs and the American 20 dollars.
After the monarchy, the Vienna Mint resumed striking all three denominations with a frozen date: 1912 for the 10 corona, 1915 for the 20 and 100 corona. Same design, same weight, same 900‰ gold: these are official restrikes, not fakes. The sources disagree on their timeline. Dealers place the start in the 1960s or in 1975; Kettner ends the 100 corona in 1988 and the 20 corona in 1989, the 10 corona in the 1990s, while the Austrian Mint still offers all three restrikes for sale.
The date. This is the main landmark. A 20 corona dated 1909, 1912 or 1914 is an original; a 10 corona 1912 or a 100 corona 1915 is a restrike.
The look. A restrike is usually unworn, with a bright field. An original has often circulated: softened relief, small knocks on the edge. Wear alone does not date a 1915, but a heavily worn piece deserves a closer look.
The measurements. Scales reading to a hundredth of a gram and calipers rule out most imitations: 6.78 g and 21 mm for the 20 corona, 33.88 g and 37 mm for the 100. If doubt remains, ask a numismatist through our coin identification page.
The Kingdom of Hungary struck its own gold coins, with the same weight and fineness, at the Kremnitz mint, now Kremnica in Slovakia. You can spot them by the “K·B” mark (Körmöcbánya) and the Hungarian legends. The obverse shows Franz Joseph standing, as King of Hungary, with the legend “FERENCZ JÓZSEF I. K. A. CS. ÉS M. H. S. D. O. AP. KIR.”; the reverse carries the crowned Hungarian arms held by two angels, the words “MAGYAR KIRÁLYSÁG” and the denomination in “korona”.
The 10 and 20 korona were struck from 1892 to about 1915; one variety of the 20 korona adds the arms of Bosnia between the angels (1913, 1914, 1916). The 100 korona exists in 1907, for the fortieth anniversary of the coronation, with a coronation scene, and in 1907-1908 with the standing king. Those two dates, 1907 and 1908, were also officially restruck: according to Wikipedia, the restrikes have a redder tint and relief that is not matt.
A Hungarian korona is therefore not a variety of the Austrian coin: it is a separate series, to be classed on its own.
The 10% copper alloy resists scratches better than the pure gold of Austrian ducats, but original coronas circulated and show it. On Schwartz's portrait, look first at the top of the head, the ear and the side-whiskers, then the moustache: these are the high points that flatten first. On the 1892-1905 laureate head, look at the laurel leaves above the ear.
On the reverse, the eagle first loses the detail of its feathers and of the small crowns on its two heads; the central shield blurs next. The beaded border and the edge lettering also show knocks.
Restrikes, often kept in tubes or capsules, mostly show small contact marks and fingerprints on the bright field. Many coronas were also mounted as jewellery: solder marks, a loop, claw marks. Do not clean a gold coin, even a dull one: cleaning leaves permanent hairlines.
Austrian ducats. Also restruck with the date 1915, they are 986‰ gold and carry no denomination in figures.
The 1892 8 and 4 florins. These gold coins of the old system, also restruck by Vienna, show two denominations at once: 8 florins and 20 francs, or 4 florins and 10 francs. An 8 florins weighs the same as a 20 francs (6.45 g), slightly less than the 20 corona.
French and Latin Monetary Union 20 francs. Same 21 mm diameter and same fineness as the 20 corona, but 6.45 g instead of 6.78 g. See the Napoleon III 20 francs.
Hungarian korona. Same weight, but standing king, Hungarian legends and K·B mark.
Modern gold bullion. The 100 corona holds close to an ounce of fine gold (30.49 g), but it is not an ounce coin like the Krugerrand, which contains 31.10 g. For other gold coins, our gold coins page explains how the shop can help.
Franz Joseph, whose portrait appears on these coronas, knew the French Riviera: Empress Elisabeth spent several winters at the Grand Hôtel du Cap-Martin from 1894, and the emperor came to visit her there. A lithograph by Wilhelm Gause dated 1898, held by the Wien Museum, shows the imperial couple at Cap-Martin, and a monument recalls the empress's stays at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. Gold coronas were never legal tender in France: those found on the French Riviera came with travellers, Central European families or the gold trade. To find out whether yours is an original or a restrike, you can show it at the Cannes shop.
Almost certainly not. 1915 is the frozen date of the Vienna Mint's restrikes, made after the monarchy. 100 corona struck in Franz Joseph's lifetime carry a date from 1908 to 1914.
Yes. Official restrikes keep the original weight and fineness: 30.49 g of fine gold for the 100 corona, 6.10 g for the 20 and 3.05 g for the 10.
The Austrian coin shows the emperor's head and the double-headed eagle, with a Latin legend. The Hungarian one shows the king standing, the arms of Hungary held by two angels, a Hungarian legend and the K·B mark of Kremnitz.
Franz Joseph's Austrian gold coins carry Latin legends: the denomination is written “CORONÆ” and the year is repeated in Roman numerals above the eagle. The Hungarian coins write “korona”.