Thaler

The thaler, the large silver coin from Central Europe

The thaler is a coin of Austrian origin which takes its name from the city of St. Joachimsthaler. Its birth dates back to the end of the fifteenth century, when the discovery of silver mines in Tyrol led to the minting of coins with an exceptional weight of 31.7 g by Archduke Sigismund.

The diffusion of the thaler became widespread especially from 1519, with the start of the large minting at the mint of Joachimsthal and with the progressive establishment of the coin as the standard of Central Europe. Many subsequent linguistic forms also derive from his name, including the term “dollar”.

Following the 1753 convention between Austria and Bavaria, Maria Theresa's thaler (28.27 g, fineness of 833/1000, diameter greater than 40 mm) became a reference coin in the European panorama; thanks to Venetian trade it then spread to the Mediterranean area and up to the coasts of East Africa.

In 1890 the minting of "thalers" began at the mints in Rome and Milan for the Italian colony in Eritrea, finishing in 1896. The intrinsic value of the thaler was close to that of the 5 Italian silver lire, given that the greater weight compensated for the lower fineness.