Sorry to disappoint House, but the Thalers are re-strikes. They're all 1740. I guess that's there Perth Mint learnt it's business.
You sure? Thought I had read from 1780 onwards they were all dated as 1780. Ah well, I'll just have to pretend Also remember reading that something like 400m had been struck which surprised me as it seems to be relatively very uncommon for such a high mintage. Thanks for the link Alor, some interesting reading alright. Would never have thought they were considered money at one stage. Too easy to lose!
Here's two of my oldest detecting finds. An 1838 sixpence and an 1843 fourpence, both British. Both from the Victorian Goldfields. Also have an 1854 fourpence (the year of the Eureka rebellion). The fourpence were only minted for around 25 years so rapt to unearth 2 of them in Aust. Threepence were way more prolific but Ive only found 3, all 20th century.
Nice coins Eureka, that groat is brilliant. You should be able to get most of that horn silver off the 6p with some aluminium foil and some lemon juice, might be worth a try.
1696. Salzburg. Johann Ernst von Thun und Hohenstein (1687-1709) Taler. The Archbishopric of Salzburg was an ecclesiastical state of the Holy Roman Empire, consisting of roughly the present-day state of Salzburg in Austria. The city of Salzburg is the ancient Roman city of Iuvavum. The Archbishop of Salzburg also bears the title "Primas Germaniae" (which means "First [Bishop] of the Germans"). The powers of this title - which are in no way jurisdictional - are limited to being the pope's first correspondent in the German-speaking world. Johann Ernst von Thun (July 3, 1643, Graz, Austria - April 20, 1709, Salzburg, Austria) was prince-archbishop of Salzburg, Austria, from 1687 to 1709. Upon his death, Archbishop von Thun had his brain deposited in the university chapel, his entrails (symbolizing compassion) deposited in his Hospital Church, and his heart interred at his favorite Church of the Trinity.
I would love to know how some of these coins survived in relatively good condition. That would be an interesting story imo.
Joseph II., Madonnentaler 1783. Joseph II (1741-1790): Holy Roman Emperor The eldest son of Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa, Joseph was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in March 1764. One of the "Enlightened Despots" of the 18th century, Joseph aspired to increase the power and efficiency of the state by placing all subjects of the realm, including the Church and the feudal nobility, under benevolent monarchical rule. Committed to political reform, Joseph pledged to achieve the common good for all his subjects, and adhered to the Enlightenment tenet that the state's determination of the commonweal was based upon reason. Convinced that people should express their views freely, Joseph encouraged public debate, and issued decrees limiting press censorship and granting writers, journalists, scholars and scientists broad freedom to publish their works. Joseph's vision far outran the experience of his people. In attempting to please everyone, he succeeded in alienating most. By 1789, his radical reforms brought his Empire to the verge of revolt, and his foreign policy adventures in Belgium and Bavaria exacerbated his difficulties. In 1788, he joined Russia in a conflict to plunder the Ottoman Empire. With the nobility and the clergy set against him, the peasantry disillusioned about the lack of land reform, and his own health failing, he signed decrees in 1790 revoking his sweeping reforms. He died a disappointed man that year. He is buried in tomb number 42 in the Imperial Crypt in Vienna. He asked that his epitaph read: "Here lies Joseph II, who failed in all he undertook."[
Not as old as some of the coins here but I think it's still worthy, I love the Imperial Eagle design German Empire (1871-1918) The coin in the picture is a beautiful example of an old funf (5) mark silver coin from the German State of Prussia. It was issued in celebration of Wilhelm's 25th year of reign. Prussia and her allies won a decisive victory over France in 1871. One of the results of this war was that it unified Germany under Prussian rule, and thus unified German coinage. Well, mostly unified the coinage. In 1871, the German Empire adopted the decimal system, where 1 mark = 100 pfennig. Denominations of the small coins (in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25, and 50 pfennig, and 1/2 mark and 1 mark) were standard throughout the empire and coinage started in 1873. All the coins are of basically the same design: an imperial eagle front and the denomination on the reverse (the earlier coins had a small eagle and the later coins had a large eagle).While Germany was unified, there was still some local governance. Prussia therefore allowed each region to mint its own coins in the larger denominations (2, 3, 5 mark silver; 5, 10, 20 mark gold). The catalogs put these with the other states coins, but they really do have some continuity. Almost all of these coins have the imperial eagle on the reverse, and a local monarch (or representation of a commemorative occasion) on the obverse.For all silver types, Prussia is again the most common. Saxony, Bavaria, Baden, and Wurttemberg are also relatively attainable; Hamburg just slightly less so. Source: Source:
@wrcmad, that's a pretty thaler! I have a few but they all have horrible adjustment marks on the reverse. Source:
Bayern Maximilian III. Joseph 1745-1777 Madonnentaler 1770 (Amberg mint mark) Born in Munich, Maximilian was the eldest son of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII and his wife, Maria Amalia of Austria, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I. Upon his father's death in January 1745, he inherited a country in the process of being invaded by Austrian armies (see War of the Austrian Succession). The 18-year-old Maximilian Joseph wavered between the Peace-party, led by his mother Maria Amalia of Austria and Army Commander Friedrich Heinrich von Seckendorff and the War-party, led by Foreign Minister General Ignaz Count of Trring and the French envoy Chavigny. After the decisive defeat in the Battle of Pfaffenhofen on 15 April Maximilian Joseph quickly abandoned his father's imperial pretenses and made peace with Maria Theresa in the Treaty of Fssen, in which he agreed to support her husband, Grand Duke Francis Stephen of Tuscany, in the upcoming imperial election. Maximilian Joseph was a progressive and enlightened ruler who did much to improve the development of his country. The elector encouraged agriculture, industries and the exploitation of the mineral wealth of the country and abolished the Jesuit censorship of the press. In December of 1777 Maximilian Joseph rode in his carriage through Munich; on the ride, as he passed one of the tower clocks, the mechanism broke, and the clock struck 77 times. Commenting to the passengers, Max Joseph decided this was an omen, and that his years had run out. Within days, he was stricken with a strange disease. None of his 15 doctors could diagnose it, but by Christmas, it had become clear that it was a particularly virulent strain of small pox, called by contemporaries, purple small pox.[1] By the last day of the month he was dead without leaving an heir. Maximilian III Joseph is buried in the crypt of the Theatinerkirche in Munich.
Forgot to include the history on this one: The Dutch guilder (Dutch: gulden) was the currency of the Netherlands from the 17th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The Dutch name gulden was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning "golden", and the name indicates the coin was originally made of gold. The symbol or fl. for the Dutch guilder was derived from another old currency, the florijn, called the florin in English. The exact exchange rate, still relevant for old contracts and for exchange of the legacy currency for euros at the central bank, is 2.20371 Dutch guilders (NLG) for 1 euro (EUR). The first guilder, a 10.61g .910 silver coin, was minted by the States of Holland and West Friesland in 1680. The original guilder design featured Pallas Athena standing, holding a spear topped by a hat in her right hand, resting with her left forearm on Gospels set on an ornate basis, with a small shield in the legend. Under the decree of 19 November 1800 by the governor Philip Gidley King, 1 Dutch Guilder = 2/- (2 shillings), and is now accepted as a proclamation coin in Australia.
