Chapter 316 Rhine Shield

Speaking of financial bonds for trade between East Africa and Abyssinia, this is a special bond 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.

East African governments are now considering issuing their 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 receiving the consent of the Swedish royal family. Most of its members were 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 a real currency. Our mint not only has a long history and rich experience, but has also been at the forefront of Europe in the application of new technologies."

Vines first introduced the experience of the Bank of Sweden 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 these Swedish krona is cotton fiber with a small amount of hemp fiber and a lot of wood pulp."

Krona comes from Latin, meaning "crown\

,"Ernst: “What we in East Africa have in terms of banknotes is generally 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 took the opportunity to promote a wave of sisal produced in East Africa: "Sisal is a long fiber with the characteristics of high strength, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance and quick moisture absorption and release. 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 one of the main raw materials used by our Bank of Hechingen in making financial certificates.”

Wayans: "What about its price and output?"

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 areas. And the whole of East Africa is in the tropical area, which has surpassed the origin of sisal. Mexico is currently the world’s largest sisal producer.”

Wayans: "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: "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. Discount.”

This is not because Ernst is stingy, but the sisal in East Africa is indeed very popular, but if there are more buyers, East Africa will not refuse. Can the planting area continue to be expanded according to market demand?

Wayans: "Hahaha, if that's the case, we will send technicians and purchasing personnel to investigate."

Next, Wiens took Ernst and his party to continue to observe the mechanical equipment in the Swedish Mint.

Waynes: "This printing machinery and equipment was specially ordered from the UK. Of course, due to the manufacturing level, Sweden still has some shortcomings in this aspect. However, the design is completely completed by us, so it can be regarded as our own brand. This kind of precision can be processed by France and Prussia, but the British had the lowest price at the beginning, 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: "What is it equivalent to?"

Waynes: "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, which will definitely have to be redesigned. After all, every set of banknotes is What’s different is the anti-counterfeiting technology, and each customer’s needs are different. Of course, there are very few such customers now, and many countries are still manufacturing and using coins.”

Wiens’s last words hit the mark, 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 has an excellent relationship with the Swedish royal family. , so choose Sweden.

As for why we 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. Moreover, Germany’s current monetary system is very complicated and there is no The unified currency, like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is popular with metal coins. Although many countries have banknotes, metal currencies are still mainly circulated throughout the empire. This time, the Bank of Hechingen is mainly here to learn Swedish banknote anti-counterfeiting technology. After all, Swedish banknotes have been used for a long time and have accumulated sufficient experience in this regard.

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 numbers, let alone the difficult work of counterfeiting currency.

However, 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 with a country like Sweden that has developed banknote technology for two to three hundred years. So this The first time I came to Sweden to gain experience was to make up for my final shortcoming - experience.

Most of the members of the inspection team are technicians from the Bank of Hechingen. The purpose of coming this time is to introduce Sweden's advanced technology and experience, and then combine it with its own banknote technology to launch the East African Kingdom's own currency through strong alliances.

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 Guilder" is a paper currency, while the European Rhine Guilder is 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 (guilders).

The guilder is the same unit as the krona, 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 real hairstyle is a bit difficult to describe, Ernst personally decided to use the bust of Constantine in military uniform as the template, so that You can wear a pointed hat unique to the German armies to cover your hair.

At the same time, the back of the currency uses Hohenzollern Castle as the pattern, plus the national emblem and other symbols with the color 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 in the hinterland, development is very safe. At the same time, the Bank of Hechingen has also built many vaults in Europe.

The currency of East Africa is called "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 word "East Africa" ​​in front of it as a qualifier. This 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.