I received this note in a collection of mainly Romanian notes from a collector friend in Romania a couple of years ago. I immediately imaged it for my site, then I was perplexed - where do I put it? It was issued by Austria-Hungary beginning in 1912, but it was overstamped by Romanian authorities giving it status in their newly occupied part of the ex Austria-Hungary, Bukovina in 1919. This territory was subsequently disputed betwixt the Ukrainian National Republic and Romania, then after Ukraine was absorbed into the USSR, betwixt Romania and the USSR. The ladies from the Austrian and Hungarian sides of the note. And the whole note: The disputed province was subsequently split betwixt the USSR and Romania, and thence Ukrainians were deported from Romania, whilst Romanians were forced out to leave to Romania, often just moving close by through the boundary. When the USSR forced Romania to cede several territories beginning in 1940 the region of Bukovina was absorbed into the USSR and the population shifted to mainly Ukrainians and Russians. With the Axis invasion of the USSR the following year, Romania re-integratted the province into Romania, but this only lasted until 1944 when yet again the region reverted to the USSR. Now Bukovina is mostly in the Ukrainian nation, with only the small southern part being a part of Romania. The whole region, with the inclusion of Moldova and Transdnestr to the south is one of the most mixed up portions of territory in the world. To travel in some parts of Ukraine there you have to "sneak" through Moldovan territory - been there done that myself. Whilst Bukovina is largely not hotly disputed now, Moldova and Transdnestr have been in a long term frozen conflict since the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Transdnestr is a small swath of territory to the east of the Dnestr river and is "protected" by Russian soldiers. Moldova is still largely a communist country, curiously though finds itself more comfortable with allying itself with the USA and the EU. So here I have this note, from a province in Europe that is still not quite a part of any country, because it is largely populated by a mixture of peoples, Romanian, Hungarian, Russians, Ukrainians and even a few Germans. When I get around to putting it on my site, I cannot quite put it in Ukraine, nor Romania, and not really Austria either. Perhaps Bukovina by itself is the wisest choice.
What flag would I see if I were standing in front of a government office? That's the current country under which Krause would categorize the note. If you're trying to keep track of European national identities for specific tracts of land - good luck!
If I were listing it for my collection I would list it as Bukovina, with the exact explanation you typed out for this post!
In my catalogs it is listed under Romania. But Bukovina is now part of Ukraine and Romania, and I believe there is a sliver of land that is part of Moldova.
SM... with US Notes being my main focus I rarely have enough time to explore World Notes. Indeed I am missing learning about the historical circumstances of the issuing Countries, however, with yours and others post's on some most excellent pieces, it is truly a pleasure to view! Wonderful vignettes and it is in my plans to begin in 2010 a short study of the International Engravers Line. Thanks for some lovely images.... RickieB
Similar to hontonai's suggestion, you may consider something like I did for Burma/Myanmar -- On the Burma notes page: The Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma Notes On 02 March 1962, General Ne Win overthrew the government, suspended the constitution, installed himself as chief of state, and pursued a socialistic program with nationalization of nearly all industries and trade. On 04 January 1974, a new constitution adopted by referendum established Burma as a "socialistic republic" under one-party rule, and the country name was officially changed to the Union of Myanmar. For later issues refer to The Socialist Republic of the Union of Myanmar. On the Myanmar page: The Socialist Republic of the Union of Myanmar Notes On 02 March 1962, General Ne Win overthrew the government of the Union of Burma, suspended the constitution, installed himself as chief of state, and pursued a socialistic program with nationalization of nearly all industries and trade. On 04 January 1974, a new constitution adopted by referendum established Burma as a "socialistic republic" under one-party rule, and the country name was officially changed to the Union of Myanmar. For earlier issues refer to The Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma.
i would poast it under the last country to 're-issue' it. if country A issued the note, and then was counter-stamped by a country B and re-issued, i would list it along with country B... regardless if country B was later absorbed into country C. Since the note has nothing to do with country C, IMHO the note should be listed with country B
I would consider the note Hungarian as that was the predominant power in 1912 when the note was printed. imo
