Us Czechs, we tend to marginalize the common history with Austria and hide it somewhere in our subconscious. The most that we are willing to do is tolerate their presence in our history books. And we do this despite the fact that the Austrian and Austro-Hungarian history is decisive for us in so many ways that we tend to dismiss it – not because of its insignificance but rather because it is so self-evident. One of the most obvious realms where this is true is finance, currency matters and central banking. At this point let us remember an impressive anniversary. The Austrian central bank celebrates 200 years of uninterrupted operation. In 1816, Francis II established “Die privilegierte oesterreichische National-Bank” (OeNB)