The first Austrian coins circulated in Austria were minted by Celtic tribes such as the Vindelici, Boii, and Norici in the 2nd century B.C. and were based on Greek and Macedonian coins.
The center of the “Regnum Noricum” in ancient geography was a Celtic Kingdom made up of twelve tribes stretching over today’s Austria and Slovenia. This existed in the 1st and 2nd centuries B.C. The most important settlement in Noricum, Magdalensberg in Carinthia, was also a mint. The minting of tetradrachms (ancient Greek silver coins) at Magdalensberg began around 70 B.C. The silver coins of the Boii Celtic tribe, who had founded a mint of their own near Bratislava around 60 B.C., dominated as a means of payment in the Vienna region.
Apart from coins minted in various parts of the Celtic domains, mint-quality gold coins and a large number of so-called subaerati coins (contemporary counterfeits consisting of a copper center clad with a thin coating of gold) were found in the area of western Weinviertel. This is an area in today’s province of Lower Austria and was probably an important trade center.
The 1780 Maria Theresa Trade coin of Austria was one of the most popular silver Trade coins of Europe, and over 800 million were minted, each bearing the same date 1780. It has been described as one of the world's most beautiful silver coins!
Arab countries would only trade with Europe for these recognized coins, above any European coin.
During the reign of Emperor Augustus from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14, the influence of the Roman Empire spread to nearly the entire area of present-day Austria. Roman troops initiated the construction of roads and the development of urban settlements, bringing large amounts of Roman coins into the area along the Danube frontier, the limes.
No mints were operated in the provinces of Pannonia, Noricum, or Raetia, for security reasons. During the string of battles at the end of the 2nd century A.D. and the disaster during the 3rd century A.D., when Germanic tribes overran the Roman provinces and a plague broke out, causing a silver shortage, extensive developments led to the establishment of more mints in the Roman Empire. The Austrian territories were supplied by the mints at Aquileia and Siscia.
Surprisingly, many of the Roman coins were counterfeit. This counterfeit is known as the limes falsa and seemed to have played an important role in local payment methods. It is thought to have been minted at the beginning of the 3rd century A.D. without consent from the authorities to ease the shortage of small coins. Additionally, denarii subaerati, counterfeit silver-coated denars with a copper core, circulated in the limes regions.
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