SMS Szent István
Montecuccoli's plans for the construction of "Szent István" and her sister ships earned the approval of Emperor Franz Joseph I in January 1909, and by April plans for the design, construction, and financing for the battleships had been laid out. For a full year, the Austro-Hungarian Navy attempted to keep the looming construction of the first two battleships a state secret. This did not prevent rumors from circulating across Europe of two dreadnought battleships being constructed in Austria-Hungary. The French Naval Attaché in Vienna complained to Paris in 1910 of extensive secrecy within the Austro-Hungarian Navy, which manifested itself in several ways. Among these were a ban on photography in the Pola, future home port of "Szent István", and near-constant observation by the Austro-Hungarian police.
Austro-Hungarian krone
After several earlier attempts the Austro-Hungarian Empire adopted the gold standard in 1892 according to a plan drawn up by Minister of Finance Sándor Wekerle. This plan included the introduction of the new currency, the Krone. It consisted of 100 "Heller" (Austria) or "Fillér" (Hungary). The value of the Krone was set at 2 Kronen = 1 Gulden ("Florin", or "forint" in Hungarian) of the previous silver-based currency. From 1900 onward, Krone notes were the only legal banknotes of the Empire.