Weight: 28.030 g Room 46: Europe 1400-1800 Maria Theresa thaler
Minted at Günzburg, Austria, AD 1780 A successful silver coin,
used in international trade Large silver coins known as thalers
had been struck from the sixteenth century. In the mid-
eighteenth century the Austrian empire's powerful position
within Europe and its geographical location resulted in high
levels of trade with Mediterranean and near eastern countries.
Austria's rich silver deposits enabled her to increase
production of the thaler to meet this new demand. As well as
being struck in Vienna and Hall, production of the coins was
extended to the mint of Günzburg. The coin was particularly
popular with the countries of the Middle East and north-eastern
Africa, where it was used for trade with such countries as India
and China, where silver was a long established measure of value.
When the Habsburg empress Maria Theresa died in 1780, the coin
remained in production for trade purposes. In the first half of
the nineteenth century, it was produc