Silver Austrian Maria Theresa Bullion Thalers (Best Value)

Best value Maria Theresa silver bullion coins, offered with free delivery to UK addresses. Historical silver coins at bullion prices.

Obverse

The obverse shows the mature Maria Theresa with the abridged Latin inscription 'M · THERESIA · D · G · R · IMP · HU · BO · REG ·' which translates to 'Maria Theresia by the grace of God, Empress of the Romans, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia'. The two initials 'S·F·' represent the two Guenzburg Mint officials Tobias Schoebl and Joseph Faby.

Reverse

The reverse shows the combined coat of arms of Imperial Austria, with the abridged Latin legend: 'ARCHID · AVST · DUX · BURG · CO · TYR · 1780 · X'. This is the grand title of Maria Theresa, which translates as: 'Archduchess of Austria, Duchess of Burgundy, Countess of Tyrol'. The 'X' was added in 1750 and is known as a saltire (the Saint Andrew's Cross, a heraldic symbol) which indicated the debased standard of the thaler (it changed from 9 to 10 thalers to the Vienna Mark).

Edge

The edge is engraved with the the motto of her reign 'IUSTITIA ET CLEMENTIA' which translates as 'Justice and Clemency'.

Specification

28.07 grams of 0.8333 fine silver. 39.50-41.00 millimetre diameter. Actual silver weight of 0.7520 troy ounces. Face value of one Taler / Thaler.

Presentation

Offered loose in bullion condition. May have slight blemishes such as scratches, edge knocks and toning, which is perfectly normal for mass-produced coins and won't affect their precious metal value.

Condition

The images provided of this product are stock photos. The coins you receive will be from the same issue and will have the same specifications. Some silver coins naturally develop toning or milk spots over time and these features may be present on the coin you receive. We cannot exchange coins displaying toning or milkspots.

Buy Silver Thaler Coins

Few coins rival the silver Maria Theresa Thaler in terms of historical background and worldwide use. Being originally issued from a country with a rich numismatic history, one could write a book about this coin's impact on the world of trade. Nobody knows for certain how many have been struck over the centuries, with conservative mintage estimates hovering around 300 million and some sources speculating as high as 800 million.

The Trade Thaler is named after Empress Maria Theresa, ruler of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia from 1740 until her death in 1780. Thalers have a silver purity of 83.33%, with the remainder of the alloy consisting of copper. They weigh 28.07 grams and contain 0.7520 troy ounces of fine silver. 

Thalers became the official trading coin throughout most German speaking countries, and soon their use expanded across the globe. In 1857, Emperor Franz Joseph I declared the Maria Theresa thaler to be an official trade coin. However, it lost its legal currency status in Austria a year later. 

Buy Austrian Coins

Although the main bullion coin produced by the Austrian Mint today is the Vienna Philharmoniker, it's not the only bullion coin produced by this famous European Mint. The Austrian Mint has a rich tradition dating back to the 17th century of restriking gold and silver coinage from old coin dies, for example Maria Theresa Thalers, Ducats, Coronas (Crowns) and Guilders.  

These restrike coins were initially produced erratically, but with the advent of precious metal investing and coin collecting the posthumous coins have been produced regularly by the Austrian Mint. Similar to the British Sovereign, they represent an opportunity to possess a memento of an era where gold and silver coins were used as circulating currency. All restrike coins have a common date, for example all restrike silver Thalers are dated 1780 and restrike Ducats are all dated 1915. 

Austrian Mint Information

The Vienna-based Austrian Mint can trace its origins to over 800 years ago when Richard the Lionheart allegedly paid a hefty ransom to Duke Leopold V. The English King was returning from the Third Crusade, and the Duke decided to imprison the King in revenge for a pointed insult directed at him earlier. Richard I ended up surrendering 12 tons of silver to pay for his release, and the story goes that the Duke proceeded to strike silver coins from this ransom, beginning the tradition of the Vienna Mint. Unfortunately, no contemporary documents exist detailing these events; it would not be until 1371 that the first recorded instance of the Mint was seen.

Although the Austrian Mint was based in different locations within the country over its history, it would not primarily base its operations in Vienna until the early 18th century. The Vienna Mint was referred to as the [Austrian] Principal Mint and the two terms are interchangeable. On the formation of the Republic of Austria in the aftermath of the First World War in 1918, the Vienna Principal Mint became the sole mint for Austria. By 1989, the Vienna Principal Mint became a public limited company and was renamed formally as The Austrian Mint, (Münze Österreich AG), becoming a subsidiary of the Austrian Central Bank (Oesterreichische Nationalbank)

Today the Austrian Mint is well-known for producing high quality bullion and collectable coins, as well as the production of circulating Euro coinage for Austria and the supply of blanks to countries around the world.

Where Were Maria Theresa Thalers Minted?

Silver Maria Theresa Thalers were not just minted om on the territory of Austria. Astonishingly, the coin has been struck in at least 16 different mints around the world. They have a strong reputation in the Middle East and North Africa, and you can still occasionally come across them in Arabian bazaars.  

In addition to the above mints, it's common for Maria Theresa Thalers to be counterstamped. Coins which were used in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Somaliland, Turkey, Mozambique and Indonesia (to name but a few) were allegedly counterstamped by the local authorities to add legitimacy to their use within the borders of the nation in question. However, it's not known for certain that every counterstamp is genuine, with some scholars and sources disputing the authenticity of some of them.

What Is A Silver Dollar?

The etymology of the word 'Dollar' can trace its roots back to Thaler, which is spelt 'Taler' in German. Thalers were large silver coins which circulated in Central European states between the 1530s and 1871. The British equivalent coin was the Crown. It was a normal circulating coin used for trade and everyday transactions, but the use of large silver Dollar / Thaler coins was discontinued in the early-to-mid 20th century.

Tracking the evolution of the word into the English language can be seen in its Dutch equivalent 'Daalder', the Spanish 'Dólar' and the Low German 'Daler', with the latter being used as the English term in the 16th century. It eventually became Anglicised as 'Dollar', which is still in use today and is the proper name for the currency used by over 20 different countries around the globe. 

Sell Silver Thalers Maria Theresa

The Britannia Coin Company offers to buy silver coins including Maria Theresa Thalers at really competitive prices. For information about how to get a quote for your coins then have a look at our Sell Your Coins page or you're very welcome to get in contact with us.