Cudamark brought up the German stuff

[unclemac]

this is known as a Maria Theresa Thaler... forget the "th", Germans don't use that sound, just go with a hard "T" or (as we do), "D".
By the 1700's coin presses had really been figured out and minting, round, even, exact coinage was becoming available world wide. Everyone was trying to produce high quality silver
"crown" type coins. The Spanish had a huge advantage as they sat on a literal mountain of silver at Potosi in Bolivia. (still produces today).

The German states (there is no Germany at this time), so look at it as Canada and the US having 65 independent stares minting and using there own stuff. Here is a good upcoming auction house for these type of coins that I use from time to time.

Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co. KG - Auction 418

Closing 29 Jan 2025 | View this auction on NumisBids

www.numisbids.com

But for this coin...a lot of what follows is just straight from Wikipedia... just faster for my sausage fingers.
Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was a ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure (in her own right). She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Slavonia, Mantua, Milan, Moravia, Galicia and Lodomeria, Burgundy, the Austrian Netherlands, Silesia and Parma. By marriage, she was Duchess of Lorraine, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, and Holy Roman Empress.

 

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[unclemac]

Damn..... sorry about that....aint ready to post yet.....
In 1741, the first MTT was struck according to the Reichsthaler standard with 1⁄9 of a Cologne mark of fine silver, or 25.98 grams. In 1750 a new thaler was struck with a gross weight of 1⁄10 of 1 Vienna mark of silver, 5⁄6 fine (with a fine silver content of 23.39 grams, or 1⁄10 of a Cologne mark). In 1751 this new standard Conventionsthaler was effectively adopted across the German-speaking world when it was accepted formally in the Bavarian monetary convention. This new, post-1751 thaler has continued as a trade coin ever since.

Since the death of Maria Theresa in 1780, the coin has always been dated 1780. On 19 September 1857, Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria declared the Maria Theresa thaler to be an official trade coinage. A little over a year later, on 31 October 1858, it lost its status as a currency in Austria.

The MTT could also be found throughout the Arab world, especially in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Muscat and Oman, in Africa, especially in Ethiopia, and India. Being of similar size to the Spanish eight-real coin, and initially thought to be of French origin, the MTT acquired the Arab name al-riyal al-fransi (الريال الفرنسى, literally the 'French riyal'). This coin was therefore the predecessor to, among others, the Saudi riyal and the Ethiopian birr.

During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies in World War II, enough people preferred it to the money issued by the occupying forces that the American Office of Strategic Services created counterfeit MTTs for use by resistance forces.

The MTT quickly became a standard trade coin and several nations began striking Maria Theresa thalers. The following mints have struck MTTs: Birmingham, Bombay, Brussels, London, Paris, Rome, and Utrecht, in addition to the Habsburg mints in Günzburg, Hall in Tyrol, Karlsburg, Kremnica, Milan, Prague, and Vienna. Between 1751 and 2000, some 389 million were minted. These various mints distinguished their issues by slight differences in the design, with some of these evolving over time. In 1935 Mussolini gained a 25-year concession over the production of the MTT. The Italians blocked non-Italian banks and bullion traders from obtaining the coin and so France, Belgium, and the UK started producing the coin to support their economic interests in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and East Coast of Africa. In 1961 the 25-year concession ended and Austria made diplomatic approaches to the relevant governments requesting they cease production of the coin. The UK was the last government to agree formally to the request in February 1962.

The MTT came to be used as currency in large parts of Africa and the Middle East until after World War II. It was common from North Africa to Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, down the coast of Tanzania to Mozambique, and also in the Arabian Peninsula (Oman, Yemen). Its popularity in the Red Sea region was such that merchants would not accept any other type of currency. The Italian government produced a similarly designed coin in the hope of replacing the Maria Theresa thaler, but it never gained acceptance.

The Maria Theresa thaler was also formerly the currency of the Hejaz, Yemen, and the Aden Protectorate, as well as Muscat and Oman on the Arabia peninsula. There it was widely used for traditional jewellery, both as a source of silver, and as a decoration itself. The coin remains popular in North Africa and the Middle East to this day in its original form: a silver coin with a portrait of the ruler on the front and the Habsburg Double Eagle on the back.

In the United Kingdom, the Maria Theresa thaler bearing the date of 1780 is a "protected coin" for of Part II of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981.

Pretty cool, coin, easy to get one, kind of a "must have" as a conversation piece on the history of modern coinage.

 

[cudamark]

I just HAD to open my big mouth, didn't I?

 

[unclemac]

yeah, but it is an overlooked story