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Austria. The stamps of Francis Joseph the Unlucky, who has been on the throne of Austria since the first Austrian issue appeared in 1850, do not call for more than pictorial representation here. The general postage stamps current in Austria were originally issued as a special series to mark the sixtieth year of the Emperor's reign (1908). Slightly modified, they were re-issued for the celebration of his eightieth birthday (1910). The illustrations (Figs. 241-257) show the original issue of 1908 as still current. The portraits are copied from paintings in the Royal palaces, and the subjects are: 1 heller (Charles VI.), 2 heller (Maria Theresa), 3 heller (Joseph II.), 6 heller (Leopold II.), 12 heller (Francis I.), 20 heller (Ferdinand).
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Of the present Sovereign, unluckier than ever in the present war, the series comprises several good portraits. The 30 heller shows him at the time of his accession in 1848, the 35 heller a portrait painted thirty years later, 1878; the 50 heller shows him in the uniform of a Field Marshal, and on the 1 krone he figures with the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Contemporary portraits appear on the 5, 10, and 25 heller (Figs. 244, 246, 249), and a particularly fine portrait stamp of large size is the 10 kronen ([Fig. 257]) printed in deep brown, blue and ochre.