Stephansgroschen
The St. Stephen's Groschen was issued by the Austrian Mint from March 1, 1950 as a donation coin to finance the reconstruction of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna .
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The Stephansgroschen was given out as part of the “Every Austrian donates one schilling for Steffl”. This action was intended to help rebuild St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, but according to estimates at the time, around ten million schillings were missing for its implementation . The aim of the campaign was to sell six million St. Stephen's groschen at a price of 1 shilling.
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The donation coin, designed by the Austrian medalist Oskar Thiede in 1950 , has a diameter of 27 millimeters and is made of 2 millimeter thick aluminum. There was also a silver version that could be bought for 20 shillings . The front shows the number 1 and the designation "Stephansgroschen". In the background behind the "1" there is an ear of wheat. St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna is shown on the back. Next to it is the year 1950 and below it “O. THIEDE “. In addition to the one shown, without a coat of arms, there are nine other versions, each with one of the coats of arms of the federal states of Austria embossed next to the number 1. In addition to aluminum, these were also embossed in silver.
