The term guilder is the English equivalent of the gulden in German and Dutch. Debuting in 1870, the Austrian Gold Guilder is, therefore, also referred to as the Austrian Gold Gulden. The initial idea behind the guilders was to have them circulate freely in Switzerland, Italy, Belhium, and France, which comprised the Latin Monetary Union in the nineteenth century. However, Austria began issuing her own 8 and 4 gold guilders up to 1892 when it was replaced by the Coronas.
The 8 Austrian Gold Guilder weighs 6.45 grams gross and has a gold fineness of 0.900. The coin has a diameter of 21 millimeters. On the other hand, the 4 Austrian Gold Guilder denomination weighs 3.23 grams and has a similar gold purity as the 8 Gold Guilder at 0.900. It has a diameter spanning 19 millimeters. The obverse of both denominations has the head of the emperor of Austria, Emperor Franz Joseph, facing right with a headband and his moustache properly intact. Below the neckline is a star while the inscription, “FRANCISCVS JOSEPHVS I I D G IMPERATOR ET REX” surrounds the effigy and runs clockwise from the bottom-left to the bottom-right corner of the coin.
The reverse is dominated by a huge coat of arms of Austria with the double-headed imperial eagle with both heads crowned and embedded to a bigger crown with a cross at the top. The wings and legs of the double-headed eagle are spread apart with the right leg clamping onto a sword and the left one holding the crown. The tail feather of the imperial eagle separates the inscriptions the value inscriptions in florins and francs to the left and right respectively. The year is below the eagle. From about halfway the coin on the left, the text, “IMPERIVM AVSTRIACVM” surrounds the coat of arms.
The Austrian Gold Guilder was minted by the Austrian Mint. The Mint was founded in 1194 in Vienna, Austria. No sales tax or VAT is charged for trading in the coin.
