AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE (1867-1918)
REIGN OF EMPEROR FRANZ JOSEPH I (1848-1916) - HOUSE OF HABSBURG-LORRAINE
ISSUE CELEBRATING THE DIAMOND JUBILEE (60TH ANNIVERSARY) OF THE EMPEROR'S REIGN
CERTIFIED BY NGC PROOF 62 CAMEO
OBV: FRANZ JOSEPH PORTRAIT BUST RIGHT.
REV: RECLINING ON BED OF CLOUDS, THE RADIANT FEMALE ALLEGORICAL FIGURE (THE MODEL WAS SAID TO BE FRANZ JOSEPH'S BELOVED MISTRESS AND CONFIDANT, THE ACTRESS KATHARINA SCHRATT, "THE UNCROWNED EMPRESS OF AUSTRIA") OF FAME OR GLORY (OR THE PERSONIFICATION ÖSTERREICH) RECLINING WITH HER LEFT ARM RESTING ON SHIELD WITH THE CROWNED IMPERIAL DOUBLE HEADED EAGLE AND HER RIGHT ARM OUTSRETCHED WITH LAUREL WREATH IN HAND DIVIDING DATES 1848/1908; DENOMINATION AROUND EDGE BEHIND FIGURE; LATIN LEGEND "DVODECIM LVSTRIS GLORIOSE PERACTIS (12 LUSTRA- A MEASURE OF TIME OF 60 YEARS- GLORIOUSLY COMPLETED...IN LATIN LUSTRIS ALSO MEANS 'TO OFFER A PROPITIATION')".
KM # 2812
FRANZ JOSEPH I (1830-1916), WAS EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA, KING OF BOHEMIA, APOSTOLIC KING OF HUNGARY AND KING OF CROATIA, GALICIA AND LODOMERIA FROM 1848-1916 (68 YEARS). A CONSERATIVE REACTIONARY, FRANZ JOSEPH RESISTED CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN HIS DOMAINS, ALTHOUGH HIS UNCLE, FERDINAND I, HAD ABDICATED IN HIS FAVOR TO HELP END THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1848.
THE DUAL MONARCHY OF AUSTRIA-HUNGARY WAS FORMED IN 1867, GIVING HUNGARY MORE AUTONOMY, BUT THROUGHOUT FRANZ JOSEPH'S REIGN, THE HABSBURG EMPIRE WAS THREATENED BY SEPARATISTS AND REGIONAL NATIONALISM.
HIS PERSONAL LIFE WAS MARKED BY TRAGEDY, INCLUDING THE EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD OF HIS BROTHER, THE EMPEROR MAXIMILLIAN OF MEXICO, THE ASSASSINATION OF HIS WIFE, THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH, STABBED BY AN ANARCHIST IN GENEVA IN 1898 (THE EMPEROR ESCAPED A SIMILAR ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN 1853), AND THE SUICIDE OF HIS SON AND HEIR, CROWN PRINCE RUDOLF, IN 1889.
THE YEAR THIS COIN WAS STRUCK, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, ANNEXED BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA IN THE BALKANS. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY HAD OCCUPIED THE REGION SINCE 1878, BUT ANNEXATION CREATED THE BOSNIAN CRISIS WHICH ALIENATED THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AND THE KINGDOM OF SERBIA AND CONTRIBUTED TO ESCALATIONS WHICH WOULD LEAD TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR.
FRANZ JOSEPH'S 68 YEAR REIGN IS THE THIRD LONGEST RECORDED REIGN OF ANY EUROPEAN MONARCH THUS FAR.
CONTAINS 33.8753 GRAMS OF .900 FINE GOLD (.9802 OZ AGW)
37 MM IN DIAMETER
