Before proposing the gold standard reform, Franz had already considered the issue of gold reserves. The best option was naturally to occupy gold-producing regions and organize mining operations himself.
Unfortunately, the world's major gold-producing regions had nothing to do with the New Holy Roman Empire. Most of them were in British hands.
In this era, easily mined gold deposits were mainly distributed across South Africa, Russia, Canada, Australia, the United States, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and other regions.
There was no helping it. The entire European Continent lacked gold mines, and even those it had were mostly already developed. The remaining deposits were buried underground; open-pit gold mines no longer existed.
Franz was not an encyclopedia. He could not possibly remember the locations of every gold mine, much less uncover every domestic gold deposit.
Compared with its low gold output, Austria's silver output was far better. Under the bimetallic system, it was silver that supported the value of Austrian currency.
After arduous bargaining, the New Holy Roman Empire barely passed the gold standard reform. This was the result of Franz not intervening; there had likewise been votes against it within the Austrian Government.
No matter what, gold standard reform was only a matter of time. Starting early would allow them to exchange for some gold first. If they waited until everyone began scrambling for gold, the price they paid would be far greater.
The large gold mines were beyond their control, but that did not mean there were no small ones. Apart from the homeland, Austria's two colonies, Guinea and Congo, also had quite a few gold mines.
Leaving aside the underground deposits, surely they could mine the open-pit gold deposits formed by riverbed alluvium?
Franz did not expect much. An annual output of a