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Comments
Lovely combination Betty.
I do not have any made like this but I like them a lot. I wonder how come that the Maria Theresia Taler became so popular in Africa (also in Western Africa e.g. for melting it down in olden days to make Tuareg crosses). It is a nice combination - coin and cross made of the coin! And it Looks authentic and old.
Beautiful! I love the cross made from the coin.
Dear Betty; This is really nice - I love it! Peter
Dear Eva; The Maria Theresia Thaler was official currency in many countries of the Levant, etc. and was minted among others in the region and of course also with many fakes. During old days, the travelers took silver Thalers with them on their voyage as it was the only cross country currency at that time. The Spanish had their double pillar "Thaler" (the sign of the pillar with the ivy or similar growing around it became later on the symbol of the US Dollar, hence, $). The Spanish tried with this double pillar coin (the Arabs did not realize that these are pillars but thought of it as canons!) to break the monopoly, however, no other coin was ever able to achieve the status of the Maria Theresia Thaler, even later Austrian coins did not. Also, when the husband of Maria Theresia died, she was wearing a veil until she died many years later. The coin was changed and an image of Maria Theresia wearing a rather hefty veil was portrayed on the Thaler. However, this Thaler was not popular either (how the world has changed!) and therefore, the image of Maria Theresia was again changed on the Thaler with her wearing only a small veil. The name "Thaler" is originating by the way from the valley called St. Joachim Tal (Tal is German for Valley). They found huge silver reserves in this valley, the mines of which provided the silver for the coins, hence, they called the large coins Thaler. The first major Thaler was the St. Joachim Thaler. However, no coin ever reached the status of the Maria Theresia coin. With kind regards. Peter
Wow!Thank you very much Peter, for the interesting and extensive informtion about the Maria Theresia Thaler. (It seems strange to me, as the Expression "thaler" is actually German and today spelt like "Taler") -so I always have to force myself to write it with an "h". I will copy this to have it at Hand, should I Forget the Details, as a sort of private data bank).
Dear Eva; Many thanks for your message. There is a very interesting book about the history of the Maria Theresia Thaler avaialble with great stories about the Empress and the origin and circulation of the Thaler. It surely makes a good reading. I received it once from the author, who visited one of our hotels here in Jordan. When I am back at my home in February, I will look for the details of the book and let you know.
With kind regards. Peter
Dear Peter, thanks a lot. I will be looking Forward about the Details of the book. Perhaps it is available on the books market. I am sure others will also be interested in this book.
Dear All; This is the title of the book, which is still available on Amazon:
A Silver Legend: The Story of the Maria Theresa Thaler
Enjoy the reading - it is a fabulous book! Peter
PS: By the way, there is quite a lot written about Ethiopia as well.
Hi Peter, thank you very much, that was much sooner than I expected!