Map of the southern part of the Holy Roman Empire around 1400. It contains the duchies of Carinthia (Kärnten) and Styria (Steiermark), the Counties of Görz and Tyrol, the bishoprics of Salzburg, Brixen and Trent, and the Further Austrian territories of Burgau, Breisgau and Sundgau (Upper Alsace). It also shows the tiny Bishopric of Gurk.
History
The Holy Roman Empire first consisted of five stem duchies, but was fragmented in many different entities from the 12th century. In 1156 the Duchy of Austria became independent from Bavaria. Several bishoprics, ecclesiastical states, were also established during the era. In 1278 the Habsburgs took power in the Duchy of Austria which marked the start of a dynasty that would dominate Europe for centuries. Austria was raised to an archduchy in 1453.
Currency
Austria's early currency history is very similar to Germany's. It started with silver Pfennigs of many different forms. One of those Pfennigs came from a south German town Schwäbisch Hall, and was named Häller Pfennig, later known as Heller. Due to the inferior silver content of the Heller it evolved to be worth half a (new) Pfennig.
The need for new denominations brought the Kreuzer of 4 Pfennig. The earliest Kreuzer coins featured a cross, hence the name. From Italy golden Florins from Florence arrived and were copied by local mints. This coin became the unit of account known as Florin or Gulden, even when it was debased to a silver unit worth 60 Kreuzer in the 16th century. The Groschen, first minted in Prague, was based on the French Gros Tournois and was worth 3 Kreuzer. So we have (in general as coin values fluctuated):
Gulden = 20 Groschen = 60 Kreuzer = 240 Pfennig = 480 Pfennig.
The Thaler was a silver coin first minted in Joachimstal, Bohemia (which is in Bohemia, then Austria) in 1506. It was initially known as a Guldengroschen but as account money was debased its value increased over time from 6/5, 3/2 and in 1754, when the Conventionsthaler was introduced, to 2 Gulden.
The Ducat was a golden coin based on the Venetian Ducat. It was almost pure gold with a weight of 1/67 of a Cologne Mark (233.86g), or roughly 3.5 grams. It was used as a trade coin and its value increased over time, from 3/2 Gulden early 16th century to over 5 Gulden in the late 18th century.
Pre-Habsburg Duchy of Austria:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/duchy_of_austria-1.html
Auersperg
Auersperg was a tiny county and from 1653 principality in what is now Turjak in Slovenia. The family also held estates in Tengen near the German-Swiss border. When the Holy Roman Empire dissolved in 1806 Tengen was ceded to Baden and Auersperg to Austria.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/auersperg-1.html
Brixen
The Prince-Bishopric of Brixen was an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until 1803. It was located in South Tyrol in what is now part of Italy. In 1803 it was ceded to the County of Tyrol which was a Habsburg crown land. After Napoleon's defeat it became part of Austria, but was ceded to Italy following the First World War, even though the region has close cultural ties with Tyrol.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/brixen_bishopric-1.html
Burgau
The Margraviate of Burgau was a medieval state of the Holy Roman Empire located in what is now Bavaria in Germany. It was established in 1212 and became a Habsburg territory in 1301. In later centuries Burgau was one of the many territories of Further Austria. In 1805 Burgau was ceded to Bavaria.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/burgau_margraviate-1.html
Carinthia
The Duchy of Carinthia (German: Kärnten, Slovene: Koroška) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire that came under Habsburg rule in 1335 but remained a duchy until 1806, after which it became an Austrian crown land. Carinthia is currently a state of the Republic of Austria and is located on the Slovenian border. It has a Slovene minority.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/carinthia_duchy-1.html
Dietrichstein (Hollenburg)
Dietrichstein was a noble family that bought Hollenburg Castle and surrounding lands in Carinthia from the Habsburgs when these were short of cash in 1514. Through this purchase they acquired the title of Baron. The barons of Dietrichstein issued their own coins in the 1640's but these are very rare.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/dietrichstein_counts-1.html
Further Austria
Further Austria (German: Vörderösterreich) was the name used for a number of Habsburg posessions outside Austria but within the Holy Roman Empire. Next to aforementioned Burgau in Bavaria, it comprised of Breisgau near Baden and the Sundgau region in Alsace, annexed by France in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Because the currency situation in these southern German regions had diverged from the money used in Austria, separate coins were issued from 1783 until 1805, when Further Austria was ceded to Baden and Bavaria in reward for their alliance to Napoleon.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/further_austria-1.html
Görz
The County of Görz (Italian: Gorizia, Slovene: Gorica) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire situated on what is currently the border between Italy and Slovenia. It also included an area around the town of Lienz in eastern Tyrol. From 1127 Lienz was the capital of the County of Görz, even though Görz was a few hundred km away.
The County of Görz came under Habsburg rule in 1500, who eventually merged it with neighbouring Gradisca to form an imperial crown land in 1754. In 1920 these regions were rewarded to Italy but a part was annexed by Yugoslavia in 1947. The border fence at the square in front of Gorizia's train station (which was on the Yugoslav side) was finally removed in 2004 when Slovenia joined the EU.
Catalogued as Austrian state:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/gorz_county-1.html
Catalogued as Italian state (but Austrian at the time the coins were issued):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/gorizia_county-1.html
Gurk
The Bishopric of Gurk was located in Carinthia. It was only a churchly bisdom, never a political entity. From 1778 the bishops resided in Klagenfurt, Carinthia's capital, but they retained their title of Bishop of Gurk. The only coins in its name are from the Napoleonic era. It's possible these coins are medals in honour of Bishop Franz II Xavier.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/gurk_bishopric-1.html
Khevenhüller-Metsch
Khevenhüller was the name of an Austrian noble family that originally came from Bavaria. They owned estates in Carinthia, amongst others the famous rock castle of Hochosterwitz, which is a major tourist attraction today and still owned by the family's descendants.
In 1763 the family married into the Thuringian princely family of Metsch, upgrading their rank. A few coins have been issued in their name from this era, but their mintage was so low that they cannot be seen as common circulation coins.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/khevenhuller_metsch-1.html
Merania
The Duchy of Merania was a medieval state of the Holy Roman Empire that existed in the 12th and 13th centuries. The exact extent of its territory is unknown but it is believed to have been situated in what is now Slovenia and surrounding areas in Italy and Austria.
The only coin listed under this issuer is in the name of Otto II von Freising, who was a bishop in the Duchy of Austria. There is a possibility that this coin was mis-attributed.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/duchy_of_merania-1.html
Orsini-Rosenberg
Orsini-Rosenberg is an Austrian noble family that were raised to the title of prince in 1790. They never ruled any state but held high ranks within the Habsburg monarchy. A single Thaler coin with the family's name dated 1793 was struck in 1853. It appears to be more of a commemorative medal than a coin.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/orsini_rosenberg-1.html
Paar
Paar was an Austrian noble family mostly associated with the Austrian mail services. Their main estate was in Styria in south east Austria. They never ruled over an actual political entity. Coins in their name were dated 1771 and 1794 and had very low mintages. They appear to be commemorative medals rather than actual circulation coins.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/paar_counts-1.html
Salzburg
The Archbishopric of Salzburg was an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from 1328 until 1803. It was located between Bavaria and Austria. Its most famous inhabitant was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), who was a court musician of the last archbishop Hieronymus von Colloredo.
During the Napoleonic Wars Salzburg was reformed into an electorate in 1803. This was only short-lived as Austria annexed the territory in 1805. The French subsequently rewarded Salzburg to Bavaria in 1809 but the Austrians took most of its territory back in 1814. Salzburg is currently on of the nine federal states of Austria.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/salzburg_bishopric-1.html
Sinzendorf
Sinzendorf was an Austrian noble family that reached high ranks within the Habsburg monarchy in the 17th century, becoming the hereditary treasurer of the emperor. They came from a small town named Sinzendorf in Upper Austria, not far from Linz. A few coins were minted in their name but they were most likely commemorative medals.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/sinzendorf_county-1.html
Sprinzenstein
Sprinzenstein was an Austrian noble family from the castle with the same name in Upper Austria, close to the German border. In the 16th century they married into the wealthy Fugger bankers' family and subsequently held high posts in the Habsburg Monarchy. Franz Ignaz was the mint master of Austria and produced a Thaler in his own name. A few more coins were minted with his successor. The coins were most likely commemorative medals.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/sprinzenstein-1.html
Styria
The Duchy of Styria (German: Steiermark) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire that was known as the March of Styria (hence the German name) before 1180. The Austrian Habsburgs conquered it in 1278, but it retained some level of independent governance for a number of centuries. Styria currently still a federal state of Austria, located in its south east. Another part of historical Styria is now in Slovenia.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/styria_duchy-1.html
Trautson
Trautson was an Austrian noble family with roots in Tyrol but were later known as counts of Falkenstein in Lower Austria. The Trautsons were one of the most powerful families in the Habsburg monarchy and had a city palazzo in Vienna.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/trautson_counts-1.html
Trent
The Bishopric of Trent (Italian: Trento) was an ecclesiastic state of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from 1027 until 1803. Situated in a strategic location in the southern Alps just south of Tyrol, its land was given to the church in the Middle Ages to prevent it from being the focus of territorial disputes. The Bishopric was eventually annexed by Austria after the Napoleonic Wars. Being mostly Italian-speaking, it was a focus of Italo-Austrian tensions in the 19th century. After the First World War both Trent and South Tyrol were ceded to Italy. For Trent this made sense, but in the case of South Tyrol this caused a peculiar ethnic and cultural situation.
Catalogued under Italian states (but Austrian at the time the coins were issued):
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/trento-1.html
Tyrol
Tyrol was a county of the Holy Roman Empire, subsequently the Austrian Empire and it is currently a federal state of Austria. Tyrol was founded around 1140 and fell to the Habsburgs in 1363. Historical Tyrol included the territory of South Tyrol, a mostly German-speaking Italian region since Austria lost World War I in 1918.
The last of Tyrol's coinage was minted during an insurgence against French-aligned Bavaria as part of the Napoleonic Wars in 1809. The leader of the rebels, Andreas Hofer, was eventually captured and executed after which he became a martyr for Tyrolians, Austrians and even Germans.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/tyrol_county-1.html
Upper Alsace
The Landgraviate of Upper Alsace (German: Oberelsass, French: Haut-Alsace) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and in possession of Austrian Habsburgs from 1186 until it was annexed by France in the Thirty Years' War in 1648. Historically it was also known as Sundgau. Upper Alsace is currently known as the French département of Haut-Rhin.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/upper_alsace_landgraviate-1.html
Archbishopric of Vienna
The Archdiocese of Vienna is an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church with its see in the Stephansdom in Vienna. It was never a political entity and only one coin in the archbishop's name is listed in the catalogue. The coin was probably a commemorative medal rather than a circulation coin.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/wien_arcbishopric-1.html
Windisch-Grätz
Windisch-Grätz were a family of Austrian counts that served in the Habsburg dynasty. They came from Windischgrätz in Lower Styria, currently known as Slovenj Gradec in Slovenia. A few coins are known in the family's name, but they never ruled a political entity directly.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/windisch_gratz-1.html