Joseph II was born in 1741 in Vienna. The Austrian Archduke from the House of Habsburg-Lorraine was the fourth child of Emperor Francis I and Queen Maria Theresa. In Hungary, he was mocked as the "King in the Hat" because he did not crown himself so that he would not have to swear to the constitution.

Joseph was already a part of big politics at a very young age. According to legends, he was carried in the arms of his mother, Queen Maria Theresia, when he was barely one year old prince before the parliament in Bratislava.

It is believed that Joseph was stubborn and headstrong even in his childhood. He cultivated himself in a self-taught way, he was a supporter of enlightened absolutism. He was a religious Catholic, but later he wanted to manage the church in the spirit of his own conception of the state. In 1763, he marked the basis of the reforms unlimited milk power.

He was crowned German king in 1764, and then German-Roman emperor the following year after his father's death. He ascended the Hungarian throne in 1780, but renounced the coronation and the accompanying oath. That is why the Hungarians refer to him as the "hatted to the king".

His first and one of the most important measures was the forbearance decree in 1781. The decree allowed freer religious practice for the Reformed, Evangelicals and Orthodox. Furthermore, in the serf decree of 1785, he abolished the name serf and the binding to the nog, and then confirmed the right of the peasants to the land and the free inheritance of their property.

The emperor tried to rationalize the state organization. To this end, in 1782 he united the Council of Governors and the Hungarian Chamber, as well as the Hungarian and Transylvanian Chancellery. In 1784, he made the German language official, which caused great indignation in the life of the Hungarian people.

He died in 1790. His younger brother folloowed him on the throne, Leopold II.

II. József was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary between 1780 and 1790. During this period, significant changes took place in the field of coinage. During the time of the previous ruler, Maria Theresa, the silver forint was the basic currency. II. However, when József came to the throne, he implemented reforms in the monetary system. As part of the new system, he introduced change money, i.e. paper money supplementing cash. This bill of exchange could be used to pay in banks and manor centers. In 1780 II. József also introduced new types of gold and silver coins. These coins were the gold crown (gold with a crown) and the silver crown (silver with a crown). On the golden crown II. József's portrait was visible, while the king's coat of arms and crown were displayed on the silver crown. II. József transformed the coinage system and created uniform mints in the country. Previously, the warehouses operating in several places replaced the central mint institutions, where the money was made in a uniform manner.