History of Gold in Austria

The Vienna mint issued its first gold ducats as early as the 16th century; one- and four-ducat coins are still struck today.

Austria began minting 4 and 8 gulden (florin) gold coins in 1870; the mint kept restriking 4 gulden pieces until 1999.

The krone (crown) replaced the gulden as Austria's currency in 1892 and lasted until the end of the monarchy; a 100-crown gold coin was issued for Franz Joseph's jubilee in 1908.

Austrian ducats sold today as bullion are restrikes that all carry the date 1915 and the head of Emperor Franz Joseph.

After the currency reform the schilling became Austria's currency, and 25 and 100 schilling gold coins were struck until the 1938 annexation.

After the annexation, Germany's Reichsbank confiscated 78.2 tonnes of Austrian gold. Only 50.1 tonnes were returned after the Second World War.

Austria's gold grew during the post-war recovery of the 1950s and 1960s and peaked at about 657 tonnes in the 1980s.

The Austrian Mint, which became an OeNB subsidiary that year, issued the first Vienna Philharmonic gold coins in 1 oz and 1/4 oz sizes.

With the start of the euro, the OeNB placed about 22 tonnes of gold with the ECB.

The Austrian Mint struck a 1,000-ounce Vienna Philharmonic with a face value of EUR 100,000; fifteen were made, each with over 31 kg of gold.

Under the central bank gold agreements the OeNB sold 127.5 tonnes from 407.5 tonnes in 2000, and its holdings have stayed at 280 tonnes since 2007.

28 May 2015. After the Court of Audit criticised having about 80% of the gold in London, the OeNB announced a plan to keep 50% in Austria, 30% in London and 20% in Switzerland.

The OeNB repatriated 90 tonnes in summer 2018, bringing the gold held in Austria to 140 tonnes, half of its reserves. Each bar was weighed and tested by ultrasound and X-ray fluorescence.

26 September 2019. The ECB and 21 other central banks, including the OeNB, let the Central Bank Gold Agreement expire, saying they had no plans to sell significant amounts of gold.

Until 2001 gold and silver items had to be submitted to state hallmarking offices: the main Hallmarking and Assay Office and branches in Vienna, Linz, Salzburg, Graz and Innsbruck. They marked about 2.6 million items in 1994.

The Punzierungsgesetz 2000 (Federal Law Gazette I No. 24/2001) moved testing and marking from state offices to makers and traders, with the state limited to market inspections.

Items for export could still receive the international Common Control Mark from the state laboratory, since self-applied marks were not recognised abroad.

1 March 2007. A Finance Ministry guideline confirmed that importers of precious metal articles for trade must be registered. Coins, bars and items made before 1938 of cultural value are exempt.