Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/723

 MONKY, WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

8(r

Money and Credit.

The only State liaiik isthc Austro-Hunifavian, fonneily the National Bank (Xemzetibank). To secure a free loan, originally of eighty million florins, to the State, the bank, during the continuance of its privilege, has the exclusive right to issue hank-notes. The charter of the bank, which expired at the end of 1897, has been renewed and extended to the year 1910. Of the sum total of bank-notes in circulation, at least two-fifths must be covered by the supply of metal, silver or gold, coined or in bullion. The vState, under certain conditions, takes a portion of the clear profits of the l)ank. From these profits, first 5 per cent, on the share capital is paid to the shareholders, of the remainder 8 per cent, is transferred to the reserve fund, and 2 per cent, to the pension fund, and the dividend to the shareholders may be made up to 7 per cent. Whatever still remains is divided into two portions, one of which goes to the shareholders and the other to the State, 70 per cent, to Austria and 30 per cent, to Hungary. These last sums, however, are only applied to the reduction of the debt of eighty millions mentioned above.

The following are the statistics of the Austro- Hungarian Bank for five years, in thousands of florins: —

—

Liabilities Assets

Capital

Reserve Fund

Note Circula- tion

Mort- gages

' 1 1 Total in-: ! Dis- cluding Cash counted others Bills, A'c.

!

State Loan

Loans on real pi-operty

Totalin- cluding others

1 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897

90,000 90,000 90,000 90,000 90,000

32,472 32,521 32,458 32,499 32,578

486,624 507,808 619,854 659,726 699,907

121,276 128,611 128,541 133,483 134,678

1 762,814, 278,235 171,699 791,559 307,005 180,254 915,462 377,251 219,474 964,862 448,277 217,592 1,012,348 505,998 206,937

76,987 76,858 76,322 76,093 76,093

125,262 131,505 134,290 136,798 138,43

762,814 791,559 915,462 964,86V 1,012,.'^48

Money, Weights, and Measures.

By law of August 2, 1892, the monetaiy system of Austria- Hungary was reformed on a gold basis, though the standard coin, the crown (krone, korona), is not coined in gold.

The new coins with English equivalents are —

Gold :—

The twenty-crown piece (weighing 6775067 grammes '900 fine, and thus

containing 6 09756 grammes of fine gold) = 16s. 8d. The ten-crown piece = 85 4c?. The single ducat = 9 crowns 60 heller (filler) = 8."?.

Silver : — The single crown (weighing 5 grammes "835 fine, and thus containing 4 "175 grammes of fine silver) = 100 heller = half-a-gulden (forint) of the old coinage = lOd.

Nickel : —

The twenty -heller (20-filler) piece = 10 kreuzer (krajczar) of the old coinage = 2d.