Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - The Maria Teresa Thaler

kahnjar1 · 15th September 2009, 06:35 AM

Hi Flavio,
Further to your interesting post re the Thaler, here is a little more history.
The Thaler is named after Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, who died in 1780, which is the dated stamped on most Thaler specimens found today. The letter S and F which appear on the standard 1780 coin stand for Scholbe and Fabi, the Mintmaster and Warden at Gunsburg, where the Thalers were minted in the 1760s.
The coin was first minted in Vienna in 1751, at the time of a growing demand for a large silver coin for commercial and trading purposes. The Thaler was ideal as it was difficult to counterfeit, and could not be "clipped" as the edge was knurled in a specific way.
Its standards of weight and fineness were strictly maintained. The usual weight of the coin was 1 ounce Troy, and the silver content 75%. Hence a trade value could easily be established based on the price of silver at any given time.
As silver had long formed the general standard in trade with the Far East and particularly India and China, the Thaler was in great demand. By the first half of the 19th century, it was circulating in a wide area from the northwestern coast of Africa, Nigeria, Madagascar, and Muscat to the Black Sea.
The popularity of the coin is shown by the fact that over 45 million were struck during the first 12 years of the 20th century; 6 million were struck by the Royal Mint in England between 1945 and 1958.
In 1935 Austria was required under pressure from Adolf Hitler and Mussolini, to hand over the dies for the Thaler, as supplies were required for use in the Italian conquest of Abyssinia. Thereafter Italy claimed a monoply for manufacture of the coin, but as British interests required Thalers for trading in certain British administered territories, including the Arabian Peninsula, the Royal Mint prepared its own dies to strike the coin. During WW2 however, in order to save shipping costs, the working tools were sent to India, and the coins minted in Bombay.
Today it is still possible to buy Thalers, even from your local coin dealer. They are used extensively in necklaces particularly in The Oman. They were also, together with other silver coins, a source of silver for weapon decoration, and jewellery.
If the reader wishes to further investigate this coin, a search of GOOGLE will produce numerous results.
Regards Stuart

15th September 2009, 06:35 AM	#2
kahnjar1 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND Posts: 2,729	A MOST INTERESTING COIN Hi Flavio, Further to your interesting post re the Thaler, here is a little more history. The Thaler is named after Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, who died in 1780, which is the dated stamped on most Thaler specimens found today. The letter S and F which appear on the standard 1780 coin stand for Scholbe and Fabi, the Mintmaster and Warden at Gunsburg, where the Thalers were minted in the 1760s. The coin was first minted in Vienna in 1751, at the time of a growing demand for a large silver coin for commercial and trading purposes. The Thaler was ideal as it was difficult to counterfeit, and could not be "clipped" as the edge was knurled in a specific way. Its standards of weight and fineness were strictly maintained. The usual weight of the coin was 1 ounce Troy, and the silver content 75%. Hence a trade value could easily be established based on the price of silver at any given time. As silver had long formed the general standard in trade with the Far East and particularly India and China, the Thaler was in great demand. By the first half of the 19th century, it was circulating in a wide area from the northwestern coast of Africa, Nigeria, Madagascar, and Muscat to the Black Sea. The popularity of the coin is shown by the fact that over 45 million were struck during the first 12 years of the 20th century; 6 million were struck by the Royal Mint in England between 1945 and 1958. In 1935 Austria was required under pressure from Adolf Hitler and Mussolini, to hand over the dies for the Thaler, as supplies were required for use in the Italian conquest of Abyssinia. Thereafter Italy claimed a monoply for manufacture of the coin, but as British interests required Thalers for trading in certain British administered territories, including the Arabian Peninsula, the Royal Mint prepared its own dies to strike the coin. During WW2 however, in order to save shipping costs, the working tools were sent to India, and the coins minted in Bombay. Today it is still possible to buy Thalers, even from your local coin dealer. They are used extensively in necklaces particularly in The Oman. They were also, together with other silver coins, a source of silver for weapon decoration, and jewellery. If the reader wishes to further investigate this coin, a search of GOOGLE will produce numerous results. Regards Stuart