Vielleicht kann dies jemand gebrauchen? Uwe? Ich koennte es auch irgendwo in die Sudetenland-Seiten unterbringen. Viele Gruesse, Dora ----- Begin Included Message ----- To: "'KarenHob'" <KarenHob@aol.com> CC: <german-bohemian-l@rootsweb.com> Subject: Austrian and Czech Currency systems from 17th to 19th centuries Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 08:41:30 +-200 Kareb Hobbs wrote in her message of April 6,1998: Can someone tell me what "C.M.", "Oest. W." and "W.W." mean when used with amounts of money? and how many Kreuzers = 1 Florin in the 19th Century? CONVENTIONAL CURRENCY: The currency system of the Austrian state from the 17th to end of 19th century was based on silver standard. In 1748 so called convential currency (Konvenzionelle Waehrung, abbr. C.W., in Czech k.m.= konvencni mena) was addopted by Austria, Saxony and Bavaria. The basis was the Gulden of Saxony, according to which 18 Guldens = ONE Koelner Mark (Lat. marca, Cz. hrivna = 233,8 grams) of pure silver. ONE GULDEN (Lat. florin, Hun. forint, Czech zlaty) was devided into 60 Kreuzer (from Lat. crucifer=cross - was on the revers of the coin), in Czech krejcar. The abbrev. for Gulden was fr. or fl. , abbrev. for Kreuzer was kr. Thus 24 fr. 58 kr is in fact 24 and 58/60 Guldens. Another silver standard and coin in that time was a THALLER (in Czech tolar) [meine Bemerkung: im Joachimsthaler Dialekt sagte man fuer Thal/Tal "Tol", darum Toler], originally minted in the royal mint office in Joachimsthal in North Bohemia. [meine Bemerkung: West Bohemia] Hence the descent of American DOLLAR. 70 Kreuzer = 1 Gulden and 10 Kreuzer = 1 Thaller AUSTRIAN CURRENCY: This currency system was in force in Austria until 1855 when a new standard, so called Austrian currency (oesterreichische Waehrung, abbr. Oe.W. or O.W., in Czech r.m. or r.c.= rakouska mena or rakouske cislo) was addopted. From ONE POUND of silver 45 new GULDENS were minted. THE (NEW) GULDEN was dividen into 100 (NEW) KREUZER. The relation to the old system was: 105 fr. O.W. = 100 fr. C.W. GOLDEN STANDARD: This Austrian currency was in force until 1892 when a money standard, based on gold, instead of silver, was introduced. A new currency unit was KRONE = KORUNA(Cz.) = CROWN, divided in 100 HELLER (halir Cz.) To compare with the old system: 2 KRONE = 1 GULDEN O.W. PAPER CURRENCY - WIENER WAEHRUNG:
From 1760 besides the silver coins also paper banknotes were in circulation. These paper notes were issued by the City bank of Vienna at the beginning and later took over by the State. The name of these notes were BANKO-ZETTEL and they had a forced exchanged rate to silver money. This forced rate was called ViennaĊ½s currency, WIENER WAEHRUNG, abbr. W.W. (in Czech videnska mena, videnske cislo, abbr. v.m. or v.c.) and 250 GULDEN W.W. (i.e. ONE GULDEN in bankozettel) -= 100 GULDEN C.W. Later during the Napoleonic wars the devaluation of paper money was much higher.
To complicate the matter more and more, there was another traditional currency system in Bohemian countries, called GROSCHEN currency. The property of houses, liabilities, inheritance matters was calculated ( and such written in Land Registers, Last Wills Statements, Orphanage Books etc.) based on SCHOCKS OF MEISSNER GROSCHEN. BOHEMIAN GROSCHEN (GROS in Cz.) was a Bohemian silver coin. The calcul was made in 60 pieces, i.e. in THREE-SCORES, in German das Schock, in Czech KOPA. There were 60 GROSCHEN = 1 SCHOCK (KOPA). In neighboring Saxony, so called MEISSNER SCHOCK of GROSCHEN was calculated (Meissen = city in Saxony). The Bohemian GROSCHEN were twice as precious as MEISSNER. Thus 2 SCHOCK of Meissner Groschen = 1 SCHOCK of Bohemian Groschen and to convert to THALLER and GULDEN CURRENCY: 2 SCHOCK MEISSNER GROSCHEN = 2 THALLER = 70 KREUZER = 1 GULDEN 10 KREUZER. Karel Kysilka ---------- From: KarenHob@aol.com] I have been reading reports about the expenses of the city of Mies during the 19th century. I have a list of old weights and measures but cannot find the right information to apply to these reports. I find the following notations: 70 florins 65 Kreuzer C. M. 70 florins 30 Kreuzer Oest. W. (Austrian ....?) 70 florins W.W. Can someone tell me what "C.M.", "Oest. W." and "W.W." mean when used with amounts of money? Does anyone know how many Kreuzers = 1 Florin in the 19th Century? Also: Grain is priced "per Strich". In the past I learned that a Strich is a certain amount of farmland. Is a "Strich" of grain the amount of grain that is harvested from that much land? I am not sure that would be right because that amount would be different every year if the harvest is good or bad. So it could be a "fixed" amount. Does anyone know what a Strich would be compared to modern "measures" used for grain? (In the U S we use a bushel as a basic unit). Hay and straw are priced per "Ctr." Ore from the mines is priced per "Ctr." Is "Ctr." a "hundredweight" -- like 100 pounds? What would a modern equal weight be? I think that a "pound" in Bohemia was different from a U.S. pound (English). There are land measures given as "square K.", "Klafter" and "square Kl." Klafter is also used to measure the height of a church tower and the length of a road. What would a Klafter be in modern meters? (I want to know how many Klafters in one Kilometer.) What is the difference between the "square K." and "square Kl." ? I think there is a difference because one item says it measures "3 square K. und 1 Klafter." In another book I found land measured as "Joch" and "Klafter." The Klafter is a per-cent of the Joch. I think there are 16 square Klafter in one Joch. Finally, can someone tell me how many Kilometers there are in a 19th century German mile? I think that 6 English miles = 1 German mile and if that is correct I would have about 10 Km to one German mile.