Austria has had a long history of gold coinage.  Some of the earliest coinage used in the area was Roman, as Rome was an early ally from about the time of Augustus.  In later centuries the area was controlled by various tribes including the Huns and Francs.

        In 976 the area was ruled by Leopold of Babenberg under the authority of the Holy Roman Empire.  In 1976 Austria produced a beautiful 1000 Schilling commemorative gold coin dated 976-1976 to commemorate the Babenburg dynasty millennium.  The separate states also continued to produce their own gold coins into the 18th Century. 

        Austria has produced many issues of gold coins and different denominations with the most common being the gold Ducat.  The Ducat was primarily a trade coin that conformed with ducats from other European states and was produced until 1915.  Contemporary restrikes have been made of the 1 and 4 ducats using the 1915 date.

         The 4 Florin/10 Franc and 8 Florin/20 Franc coins were produced from 1870 to 1892, again with contemporary restrikes with the 1892 date.

         These denominations were replaced after the monetary reform of 1892 by the 10 and 20 Corona denominations.  These coins were heavier with 3.3875 and 6.7751 grams, while the 4 Florin and 8 Florin coins contained only 3.2258 and 6.4516 respectively.  The new Corona coins were produced intermittently from 1892 through 1916.  In 1908 a 100 Corona coin was made for the 60th anniversary of the reign of Franz Joseph I.  The 100 Corona denomination was modified with a new reverse and was coined from 1909 through 1915.  Again, the Austrian mint has produced contemporary restrikes of all three denominations with the 10 Corona bearing the date of 1912 and the 20 and 100 Corona coins dated 1915.  Coins dated before 1915 are all original.

         After World War I Austria was established as an independent republic and produced gold coins in the denomination of 20 Kronen and 100 Kronen  in 1923 and 1924.  In 1926 decimal coinage was produced in the new Schilling denominations with the 25 and 100 Schilling coins be produced from 1926 through 1938.

         The Schilling was the standard denomination for Austrian gold coins until the change over to the new Euros in 2004.  Several new beautiful commemorative coins have been produced in 500 and 1000 Schilling denominations.  In 1989 Austria entered the bullion arena with their new Philharmoniker coins.  The 1 ounce 2000 Schilling and 1/4 ounce 500 Schilling coins were introduced in that year.  The 1/10 ounce 200 Schilling followed in 1991 and the 1/2 ounce 1000 Schilling in 1994.

         These coins were produced as bullion coins but carry a premium because of collector interest due to their designs with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra building on the obverse and the orchestra instruments displayed on the reverse of the coin.