Chapter 316 Rhine Guilder
Speaking of financial notes for trade between East Africa and Abyssinia, this is a special instrument issued by the Bank of Hechingen under the supervision of the East African government and specifically used to perform monetary functions in the East African region. bonds.
Currently the East African government is considering issuing its own currency, and Ernst is busy working on it.
March 14, 1871.
The East African Kingdom delegation headed by Ernst officially started its inspection of the Swedish Mint after obtaining the consent of the Swedish royal family. Most of its members are employees of the Bank of Hechingen.
Wiens, President of the Bank of Sweden, was in charge of the reception: "The earliest banknotes in Europe were issued by our bank in 1661, ushering in the era of banknotes in Europe. However, the issuance of banknotes at that time was only a supplement because the quantity of metal currency was insufficient. Not as real currency Our mint is not only rich in history and experience. Rich, has always been at the forefront of Europe in the application of new technologies.”
Waynes first introduced the Swedish Bank’s experience in this regard. In Sweden in the 17th century, currency transactions mainly relied on coins. In 1661, King Carl XI Gustaf of Sweden decided to introduce banknotes as a legal form of currency. These banknotes are issued by the government and are backed by gold, ensuring their value and credibility. Swedish banknotes became the first officially issued banknotes in European history. They were called "official bank notes" at the time and were similar to the current East African financial notes, but East Africa itself did not produce metal currency.
Waynes: "The main component of the Swedish krona in front of you is cotton fiber with a small amount of hemp fiber and a large amount of wood pulp."
Krona comes from the Latin word for "crown" Meaning,
Ernst: "In terms of banknotes in East Africa, we generally use cotton, high-quality sisal and a small amount of wooden paddles."
Wayans: "Oh! Really? I don't know much about things like sisal. Sweden itself is in short supply of wood. Even cotton we need to import in large quantities."
Ernst followed the trend. Promoted a wave of sisal produced in East Africa: "Sisal is a long fiber and has strength High, wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant, high-temperature resistant, and quick to absorb and release moisture. The paper produced has obvious advantages. It is not only strong, but also easy to store and bend, and has a strong sense of comfort. It is the perfect choice for our Hechingen Bank to produce financial certificates. One of the main raw materials ”
Waynes. : "What about its price and yield?"
Ernst: "The characteristic of sisal is its high yield. Generally, the annual yield per mu is about three tons, but it is only suitable for growing in tropical and subtropical areas. , and the whole of East Africa is in the tropics, it has surpassed the value of sisal The country of origin is Mexico, which is currently the largest sisal producer in the world."
Waynes: "Oh! But we can just use wooden paddles. If the price is cheap, we can buy some sisal. , increase the quality of banknotes. ”
Ernst immediately said: "There is no problem in this regard. We have a sisal processing plant in Hamburg, which is used to produce raw materials for ship cables. If you need it, you can go directly to Hamburg to purchase it, and we can give you a 9.5% discount. ”
This is not because Ernst is stingy, but because sisal in East Africa is indeed very popular, if there are more buyers, East Africa will not refuse. Can the planting area continue to be expanded according to market demand? !
Waynes: "Hahaha, if this is the case, we will send technicians and purchasing personnel to investigate."
Next, Wayans took Ernst and his party Continue to observe the machinery and equipment in the Swedish Mint.
Waynes: "This printing machinery and equipment was specially ordered from the UK. Of course, due to the manufacturing level, we in Sweden still have some shortcomings in this aspect, but the design was completely completed by us, so Even considered as our own brand, it can be processed with such precision as France and Prussia, but the British had the lowest price at the beginning, so we completed the manufacturing of this printing equipment in London using the design drawings, and then shipped it back to Sweden for debugging. "
Ernst: "Then what level is it equivalent to?" Wayans: "There is almost nothing more advanced than it, but if you want a set, you will definitely have to modify some of the internal structures, such as the mold. , it must be redesigned. After all, each set of banknotes is different, and there are anti-counterfeiting technologies. Technology, the needs of each customer are different, of course, there are very few such customers now, and many countries are still making and using coins. "
Waynes said the last sentence. The idea came up, which is why Ernst traveled thousands of miles across the sea to come to Sweden.
If the Austro-Hungarian Empire had mature technology, Ernst would definitely give priority to cooperation with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire still uses coins as currency and has no experience in this area. In addition, the Hechingen royal family and the Excellent relations with the Swedish royal family, so I chose Sweden.
As for why you didn’t choose Germany, that’s because Germany’s banknote technology is almost the same as that of the Bank of Hechingen. The financial bonds issued by the Bank of Hechingen were developed by making full use of German technology and talents, and Germany’s current currency The system is very complicated and there is no unified currency yet. Like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, metal coins are popular. Although many countries have banknotes, metal currencies are still mainly circulated throughout the empire. This time, Hechingen Bank is mainly here to learn Swedish banknote anti-counterfeiting technology. After all, Swedish banknotes use It takes a long time to accumulate enough experience in this area.
As the saying goes, as high as the road is, so high is the devil, anti-counterfeiting technology is rolled out. Sweden has been rolling it out for hundreds of years, and some of the problems it has encountered have not been encountered by other countries.
In terms of anti-counterfeiting technology in East Africa, there is actually no need to worry too much. There are currently no such capable people in East Africa. After all, most people cannot even count five digits. Forging currency is a difficult job. Not to mention.
But East Africa’s own currency is different from the financial certificates that previously existed only in East Africa. It will enter the international community, mainly Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so anti-counterfeiting technology cannot be sloppy.
The Bank of Hechingen has also accumulated experience in making banknotes by issuing financial bonds, and has its own unique skills. However, it has only been in two or three years, and it certainly cannot be compared to Sweden, which has developed banknote technology for two to three hundred years. Compared with other countries, this time I came to Sweden to gain experience to make up for the last shortcoming - experience.
Most of the members of the inspection team are technicians from the Bank of Hechingen. This time they came here to introduce advanced technology and experience from Sweden, and then combine it with their own banknote technology. Under the strong alliance, they will launch the product in East Africa. The kingdom's own currency.
An East African currency project has been established, called the "Rhine Guilder", but it is very different from the current Rhine Guilder in the German region.
First of all, the East African "Rhine Shield" is a paper currency, while the European Rhine Shield is a gold and silver coin.
The second is the face value of the East African "Rhine Shield", which are one, five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred and five hundred (shields).
The shield is the same unit as the krona, but the shield means "gold coin", while the rhine is the name of the currency.
Finally, the East African "Rhine Shield" will use Constantine's "Beauty Portrait" as the front character pattern. Because Constantine's real hairstyle is somewhat difficult to describe, Ernst personally decided on Constantine's half-length hairstyle. The military uniform was used as a template, so that the hair could be covered with a pointed hat unique to the German armies.
At the same time, the back of the currency uniformly uses Hohenzollern Castle as the pattern, plus the national emblem and other symbols with the colors of the Hohenzollern family. The anchor is gold. One pound is equivalent to 30 East African "Rhine Shields", and one East African "Rhine Shield" "Guilder" is equal to 0.22 grams of gold. There is no need to worry about gold reserves. East Africa has gold mines in the Great Lakes region, and it is very safe to develop in the hinterland. At the same time, the Bank of Hechingen has also built many vaults in Europe.
The currency of East Africa is called the "Rhine Guilder". It has no other name. However, in order to distinguish it from the Rhine Guilder circulating in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and other regions internationally, businessmen and financial institutions will add the two East African guilders in front of it. This situation lasted until the Austro-Hungarian Empire stopped producing the Rhine Guild at the end of the 19th century, and the Rhine Guild became the unique currency name of the East African kingdom.
(End of this chapter)