Ave Maria

A look at a coin this month which is a well known icon amongst those who collect. First minted in 1741, it is still minted today with the date of the ruler’s death in 1780. Minted not just in the it’s original country of origin, but would be minted throughout the world until 1962. I am of course talking about the Maria Theresa thaler.

A typical Crown sized coin, the thaler measures 42mm in diameter with just a thickness of 2.5mm. Weighing a smidge over 28g, the coin is made of .833 silver. On the obverse of the coin we can see a depiction of Empress Maria Theresa, whilst on the reverse is Maria’s Habsburg coat of arms, a double crowned double-headed eagle holding a shield divided into four fields representing Hungary, Bohemia, Burgundy, and Burgau. Within this larger shield is a smaller crowned shield in the centre representing the coat of arms of Austria.

The thaler was originally struck in Austria between the years 1741-1780. Being the circulating currency of the Holy Roman Empire and it’s dominions it quickly became a important trade currency, with much of it’s popularity stemming from it’s use in the Arabic world and near East.
Maria’s successor, Joseph II, would allow the continued use of the 1780 dies after her death as the thaler would become the only silver coin the traders in the Arabian world would trust. This would set a precedent whereby all future strikings of the coin would use the 1780 date.
The popularity and success of the thaler would see it’s use and spread to areas of Africa and Asia which would adopt it as a sort of unofficial currency until after WWII. On the 19th September 1857, the thaler was declared an official trade coinage, and whilst little over a year later it would lose it’s status as an official currency in Austria, it would see a increase in production globally.
Mints around the world would begin to produce their own copies of the thaler, with notable examples coming from Birmingham, Bombay, Brussels, London, Paris, Rome, and Utrecht.
Although minting of the thaler outside of Austria would end in 1962 when the UK government formally agreed to stop production, the Austrian mint still produces them to this day, with proof and uncirculated versions being available to order from their mint.

It is estimated that, up until the year 2000, 389,000,000 thalers have been minted since their first inception in 1741.