ate the relations of these coins to the
"Austrian" silver coinage; the two issues were not brought into connexion,
and every payment was made in silver, unless it was definitely agreed that
it should be paid in gold. In 1879, owing to the continued depreciation of
silver, the free coinage of silver was suspended. In 1892 laws introducing
a completely new coinage were carried in both parliaments, in accordance
with agreements made by the ministers. The unit in the new issue was to be
the krone, divided into 100 heller; the krone being almost of the same
value (24-25th) as the franc. (The twenty-krone piece in gold weighs 6.775
gr., the twenty-franc piece 6.453.) The gold krone was equal to .42 of the
gold gulden, and it was declared equal to .5 of the silver gulden, so much
allowance being made for the depreciation of silver. The first step towards
putting this act into practice was the issue of one-krone pieces (silver),
which circulated as half gulden, and of nickel coins; all the copper coins
and other silver coins were recalled, the silver gulden alone being left in
circulation. The coinage of the gold four- and eight-gulden was suspended.
Nothing more could be done till the supply of gold had been increased. The
bank was required to buy gold (during 1892 it bought over forty M. gulden),
and was obliged to coin into twenty- or ten-krone pieces all gold brought
to it for that purpose. Then a loan of 150 M. gulden at 4% was made, and
from the gold (chiefly bar gold and sovereigns) which Rothschild, who
undertook the loan, paid in, coins of the new issue were struck to the
value of over 34 million kronen. This was, however, not put into
circulation; it was used first for paying off the _Staatsnoten_. By 1894
the state was able to redeem them to the amount of 200 million gulden,
including all those for one gulden. It paid them, however, not in gold, but
in silver (one-krone pieces and gulden) and in bank notes, the coins and
notes being provided by the bank, and in exchange the newly-coined gold was
paid to the bank to be kept as a reserve to cover the issue of notes. At
the same time arrangements were made between Austria and Hungary to pay off
about 80 million of exchequer bills which had been issued on the security
of the government salt-works, and were therefore called "_salinenscheine._"
In 1899 the remainder of the _Staatsnoten_ (112 million gulden) were
redeemed in a similar manner. The bank had in this way acquired a