Chapter 316 Rhine Shield
Speaking of financial bonds for trade between East Africa and Abyssinia, this is a special bond issued by the Hechingen Bank under the supervision of the East African government and is specifically used as a currency in the East African region.
East African governments are currently considering issuing their own currencies, and Ernst is busy on this matter.
March 14, 1871.
After obtaining the consent of the Swedish royal family, the East African Kingdom delegation headed by Ernst officially started the inspection of the Swedish Mint. Most of the members were employees of the Hechingen Bank.
The president of the Swedish Bank, Wiens, was in charge of the reception: "The earliest paper money in Europe was issued by our bank in 1661, which opened the era of paper money in Europe. However, the issuance of paper money at that time was only a supplement to the insufficient amount of metal currency, and it was not a real currency. Our mint not only has a long history and rich experience, but also has always been at the forefront of Europe in the application of new technologies."
Weins first introduced the experience of the Swedish Bank in this regard. In 17th century Sweden, currency transactions mainly relied on coins. In 1661, King Carl XI Gustav of Sweden decided to introduce paper money as a legal form of currency. These banknotes were issued by the government and backed by gold to ensure their value and credibility. Swedish banknotes became the first officially issued paper money in European history. They were called "official banknotes" at the time, similar to the current East African financial notes, but East Africa itself did not produce metal currency.
Wiens: "These Swedish kronas are made mainly of cotton fiber, a little hemp fiber and a lot of wood pulp."
Krona comes from Latin, meaning "crown".
Ernst: "We in East Africa generally have cotton, good quality sisal and a little wood pulp in terms of paper money."
Waynes: "Oh! Really? I don't know much about sisal. The last thing Sweden lacks is wood. We need to import a lot of cotton."
Ernst took the opportunity to promote sisal produced in East Africa: "Sisal is a long fiber with the characteristics of high strength, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, and fast moisture absorption and release. The advantages of the paper made from it are obvious. It is not only strong, but also easy to store and bend, and it is also very comfortable. It is one of the main raw materials for our Hexingen Bank to produce financial notes."
Wayans: "So what's its price and production?"
Ernst: "The characteristic of sisal is its high yield. Generally, the annual yield per mu is about three tons. However, it is only suitable for growing in tropical and subtropical regions. Our entire East Africa is in the tropical region. We have surpassed Mexico, the origin of sisal, and are currently the world's largest sisal producer."
Waynes: "Oh! But we can just use wooden paddles. As for sisal, if the price is cheap, we can buy some to increase the quality of the banknotes."
Ernst immediately said, "That's no problem. 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. We can give you a 9.5% discount."
It’s not that Ernst is stingy, but East African sisal is indeed in great demand. However, 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 that's the case, we will send technicians and purchasing staff to investigate."
Next, Waynes took Ernst and his party to continue observing the mechanical equipment in the Swedish Mint.
Waynes: "This printing machine was specially ordered from the UK. Of course, due to the level of manufacturing, Sweden is still a little lacking in this regard, but the design was completely completed by us, so it can be regarded as our own brand. Such precision can also be completed by France and Prussia, but the British offered the lowest price at the time, so we used the design drawings to complete the manufacturing of this printing equipment in London, and then shipped it back to Sweden for debugging."
Ernst: "So what level is it equivalent to?"
Waynes: "There is almost nothing more advanced than it, but if you want a set, you must modify some of the internal structures, such as the mold, which must be redesigned. After all, each set of banknotes is different, and there is also anti-counterfeiting technology. The needs of each customer are also different. Of course, there are very few such customers now, and many countries still make and use coins."
Waynes' last sentence hit the nail on the head, and this is also the reason why Ernst traveled thousands of miles across the sea to Sweden.
If the Austro-Hungarian Empire had mature technology, Ernst would definitely give priority to cooperating with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was still using coins as currency and had no experience in this area. In addition, the Hechingen royal family and the Swedish royal family had an excellent relationship, so Ernst chose Sweden.
As for why Germany was not chosen, it is because Germany's paper money technology is almost the same as that of the Hechingen Bank. The financial notes issued by the Hechingen Bank are developed by making full use of German technology and talents. Moreover, Germany's current monetary system is very complicated and there is no unified currency. Like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, metal coins are popular. Although many states have paper money, metal currency is still the main currency in circulation throughout the empire. This time, the Hechingen Bank mainly came to learn Sweden's paper money anti-counterfeiting technology. After all, Swedish paper money has been used for a long time and has accumulated sufficient experience in this area.
As the saying goes, "The higher the virtue, the higher the devil." Anti-counterfeiting technology is developed through practice. Sweden has been developing it for hundreds of years, and some of the problems it has encountered are never encountered by other countries.
In fact, East Africa does not need to worry too much about anti-counterfeiting technology. There are currently no such capable people in the East African community. After all, most people can't even count to five numbers, let alone such a difficult task as counterfeiting currency.
However, East Africa’s own currency will be different from the financial notes that previously only existed in East Africa. It will be circulated in the international community, mainly in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so anti-counterfeiting technology cannot be sloppy.
After issuing financial notes, the Hechingen Bank has accumulated experience in making paper money and has its own unique skills, but it has only been two or three years, and it certainly cannot be compared with a country like Sweden that has developed paper money technology for two or three hundred years. Therefore, this trip to Sweden to learn from others is to make up for the last shortcoming - experience.
Most of the members of the inspection team are technical personnel from the Hechingen Bank. This time they came to introduce Sweden's advanced technology and experience, and then combine it with their own paper currency technology. Through this powerful combination, they will launch the East African Kingdom's own currency.
The East African currency has been launched and is called the "Rhine Shield", but it is very different from the current Rhine Shield in Germany.
First of all, the East African "Rhine Guilder" was a paper currency, while the European Rhine Guilder was a gold and silver coin.
Next is the face value of the East African "Rhine Shield", which are one, five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, and five hundred (shields).
The guilder is a unit like the kroner, but the guilder means "gold coin" while the rhine is the name of the currency.
Finally, the East African "Rhine Shield" will use Constantine's "beautiful portrait" as the front character pattern. Because Constantine's hairstyle is really difficult to describe, Ernst personally decided to use Constantine's half-length military portrait as a template, so that he can cover his hair with the unique pointed hat of the German army.
At the same time, the back of the currency uniformly uses Hohenzollern Castle as the pattern, plus the national emblem and other symbols of the Hohenzollern family. The anchor is gold. 1 pound is equivalent to 30 East African "Rhine Shields", and one East African "Rhine Shield" 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 in the hinterland, so development is very safe. At the same time, the Hechingen Bank has also built many vaults in Europe.
The currency of East Africa is called "Rhine guilder" and has no other name. However, in order to distinguish it from the Rhine guilder circulating in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and other regions internationally, merchants and financial institutions would add the word East Africa in front of it as a qualifier. This situation continued until the end of the 19th century when the Austro-Hungarian Empire stopped producing Rhine guilders. The Rhine guilder then became the name of the unique currency of the East African Kingdom.
(End of this chapter)
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