Introduction:

During the 18th century Austrian state finances and currency had remained stable. The Austrian Guilder had a fixed silver content. In 1753, the Guilder was adopted as joint currency by Austria and Bavaria in the so-called "Münzkonvention", hence the name Conventionsmünze (CM).

In 1706 the Wiener Stadtbank ("Vienna City Bank") was established for the management of government debt, and also to make private savings available for state finances. The obligations of the bank with a minimum denomination of 100 fl were well received by the general public. The high credibility of the bank rested on two factors: management by the city of Vienna, which gave the bank a certain degree of independence from the state; and permanent liquidity. Parts of state revenues were earmarked to pay for the interest of the bonds. The volume of bond emissions increased gradually but remained modest until 1796.

During the Seven Years War (1756-1763) uncovered bonds called Wiener Stadt Banco-Zettel were issued in 1762, denominated in 5 fl, 10 fl, 25 fl … 100 fl which became a voluntary surrogate for gold and silver coins – a first step towards paper money.3 At the end of Maria Theresia's reign (1780) the volume stood at 12 million. The increase until 1796 was modest, Banco-Zettel were accepted on par with silver.