Gold Coin One Hundred Crown 60th Anniversary of the Reign of Franz Joseph I. Austrian mintage 1908

Lady in the clouds - golden jubilee centenary crown - 60 years of reign of Franz Joseph I.

A gold commemorative coin issued on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of the reign of Franz Joseph I in 1908 and nicknamed the Lady in the Clouds.

The reverse of the coin depicts the figure of a woman seated in a relaxed pose in the clouds. In her raised right arm she holds a laurel wreath, her other arm is placed over a shield bearing the national emblem of the Austrian Empire. At the top of the scene, sunbeams rise from the clouds, accompanied by the anniversary years '1848 - 1908' and the coin's face value '100 COR.'. At the bottom of the coin is the Latin inscription "DVODECIM LVSTRIS GLORIOSE PERACTIS" (loosely translated as "60 years gloriously crowned"). The female model was the famous Austrian actress and the Emperor's mistress, Katharina Schatt.

The face of the coin bears the likeness of Emperor Franz Joseph I looking to the right. The description of the coin reads "FRANC-IOS-I-D-G-IMP-AVSTR-REX BOH-GAL-ILL-ETC-ET AP-REX HUNG-"

Gold 100s, and especially 100s issued for the Diamond Jubilee, are very rarely obtained and are therefore highly sought after by collectors and investors.

Franz Joseph I.

Franz Joseph Karl (Franz Joseph Karl von Habsburg) was born on 18 August 1830 at 9:45 a.m. in Vienna, the son of Archduke Franz Karl (younger son of Emperor Franz I) and his wife Sophie, Princess of Bavaria. He had 4 siblings: Maximilian, Karl Ludwig , Maria Anna (died in infancy) and Ludwig Victor.

He became emperor at the age of 18 when his uncle Ferdinand I resigned and his father abdicated the throne during the suppression of the March Revolution in 1848. From the beginning, he saw his main role as preventing another revolution. He relied primarily on the army and the Church. However, the fact that he is depicted in uniform in most contemporary photographs stems from the fact that in his time there was no civilian dress worthy of an emperor.

In Austria-Hungary, all his problems became apparent during the war. One of the biggest problems was national disunity and the poor economic situation. The war was draining Austria-Hungary more than other countries and it was forced to orient itself more and more towards Germany, which aroused resentment among the non-German peoples of the monarchy.

Franz Joseph I died in the middle of the First World War, on 21 November 1916, in Vienna. His pompous funeral was overshadowed by the events of the war and the subsequent fall of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, which the emperor had associated.

After his death, Charles I ascended the throne, but his policies failed to find a way to new national aspirations. In an already desperate situation, he attempted to declare a federation on 16 October 1918, yet during October Austria-Hungary began to disintegrate. On 28 October 1918 Czechoslovakia was proclaimed.

František Josef I. cent coronas issued in 1908 - 1915: Austrian mintage