Since 1989 it has been a public limited company (Aktiengesellschaft) and a subsidiary of Austria's central bank Oesterreichische Nationalbank, which also has its headquarters in Vienna.
The Austrian Mint carries out both the design and stamping of the coins it produces.
[2] In 1194, Duke Leopold V of Austria was paid 15 tonnes of silver by Richard the Lionheart.
On his way back from the crusades Richard had been captured and imprisoned by the Duke in retaliation for a previous insult; he paid the bounty to secure his release from prison.
Subsequently, it was housed in Prince Eugene's winter palace in Himmelpfortgasse, before finally moving to its present home at Heumarkt, central Vienna, in the 19th century.