The Maria Theresa thaler (MTT) is a silver bullion coin and a type of Conventionsthaler that has been used in world trade continuously since it was first minted in 1741. It is named after Maria Theresa who ruled Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia from 1740 to 1780 and is depicted on the coin.
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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'). [1] 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. [2]
In German-speaking countries, following a spelling reform dated 1901 that took effect two years later, Thaler is written Taler (the spelling of given names like Theresa was not affected). Hence 20th-century references to this coin in German and Austrian sources are found under Maria-Theresien-Taler. The spelling in English-speaking countries was not affected.
The MTT continues to be produced by the Austrian Mint and is available in both proof and uncirculated conditions. [3]
The thaler is 39.5–41 mm (1.56–1.61 in) in diameter and 2.5 mm (0.098 in) thick, weighs 28.0668 grams (0.99003 oz) and contains 23.386 grams (0.752 troy ounces) of fine silver. It has a silver content of .833 and a copper content of .166 of its total millesimal fineness. Note: Rome mint struck MTTs are marginally lighter being produced in finer 835-standard instead of 833-standard silver.
The inscription on the obverse of this coin is in Latin: "M. THERESIA D. G. R. IMP. HU. BO. REG." The Reverse reads "ARCHID. AVST. DUX BURG. CO. TYR. 1780 X". It is an abbreviation of Maria Theresia, Dei Gratia Romanorum Imperatrix, Hungariae Bohemiaeque Regina, Archidux Austriae, Dux Burgundiae, Comes Tyrolis. 1780 ☓, which means, 'Maria Theresa, by the grace of God, Empress of the Romans, Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Archduchess of Austria, Duchess of Burgundy, Countess of Tyrol. 1780'. The "☓" is a saltire or Burgundian cross, [4] and was added in 1750 indicating the new debased standard of the thaler. Around the rim of the coin is the motto of her reign: Justitia et Clementia, meaning 'Justice and Clemency'.
The MTT quickly became a standard trade coin and several nations began striking Maria Theresa thalers. The following mints have struck MTTs: Birmingham, Bombay, Calcutta, 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. [5] 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. [6]
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. [7] 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. [8]
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. [9]
The MTT is first recorded as circulating in Ethiopia from Emperor Iyasu II of Ethiopia (1730–1755). [10] According to traveller James Bruce, the coin, not debased as other currencies, dominated the areas he visited in 1768. Joseph Kalmer and Ludwig Hyun in the book Abessinien estimate that over 20% of 245 million coins minted until 1931 ended up in Ethiopia. [11]
In 1868, the British military expedition to Magdala, the capital of Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, under Field Marshal Robert Napier, took MTTs with them to pay local expenses. In 1890 the Italians introduced the Tallero Eritreo, styled after the MTT, in their new colony Eritrea, also hoping to impose it on the commerce with Ethiopia. They remained, however, largely unsuccessful. [12]
In the early 1900s, Menelik II unsuccessfully attempted to mint Menelik thalers locally, with his effigy, but styled following the model of the MTT, and force their use. The newly established Bank of Abyssinia also issued banknotes denominated in thalers. Starting in 1935 the Italians minted the MTT at the mint in Rome for use in their conquest of Ethiopia. Then during World War II, the British minted some 18 million MTTs in Bombay to use in their East African Campaign to drive the Italians out of Ethiopia. [13]
Chapter 13 describes currencies used in pre-WWII Abyssinia.
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A thaler or taler is one of the large silver coins minted in the states and territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg monarchy during the Early Modern period. A thaler size silver coin has a diameter of about 40 mm and a weight of about 25 to 30 grams. The word is shortened from Joachimsthaler, the original thaler coin minted in Joachimsthal, Bohemia, from 1520.
Rial, riyal, or RIAL may refer to:
The livre tournois was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France, and a unit of account used in Early Modern France.
The birr is the primary unit of currency in Ethiopia. It is subdivided into 100 santims.
Groschen is the name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in parts of Europe such as France, some of the Italian states, England, various states of the Holy Roman Empire, among others. The word is borrowed from the late Latin description of a tornose, a grossus denarius Turnosus, in English the "thick denarius of Tours". Groschen was frequently abbreviated in old documents to gl, whereby the second letter was not an l, but an abbreviation symbol; later it was written as Gr or g.
The Kreuzer, in English also spelled kreutzer, was a coin and unit of currency in the southern German states prior to the introduction of the German gold mark in 1871–1873, and in Austria and Switzerland. After 1760 it was made of copper. In south Germany the kreuzer was typically worth 4 pfennigs and there were 60 kreuzers to a gulden. Kreuzer was abbreviated as Kr, kr, K or Xr.
The Conventionstaler or Konventionstaler, was a standard silver coin in the Austrian Empire and the southern German states of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-18th to early 19th-centuries. Its most famous example is the Maria Theresa thaler which is still minted today. The Conventionsgulden was equivalent to a 1⁄2Conventionsthaler.
The Reichsthaler, or more specifically the Reichsthaler specie, was a standard thaler silver coin introduced by the Holy Roman Empire in 1566 for use in all German states, minted in various versions for the next 300 years, and containing 25–26 grams fine silver.
The scudo was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin scutum ("shield"). From the 16th century, the name was used in Italy for large silver coins. Sizes varied depending on the issuing country.
The Austro-Hungarian gulden was the currency of the lands of the House of Habsburg between 1754 and 1892, when it was replaced by the Austro-Hungarian krone as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the gulden was initially divided into 60 kreuzers. The currency was decimalized in 1857, using the same names for the unit and subunit.
The South German Gulden was the currency of the states of Southern Germany between 1754 and 1873. These states included Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Frankfurt and Hohenzollern. It was divided into 60 kreuzer, with each kreuzer worth 4 pfennig or 8 heller.
The Thaler was the currency of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen until 1873, when Germany adopted the gold mark (ℳ). It was divided into 72 Grote, each of 5 Schwaren. While initially identical to the North German thaler before the 1750s, it was the only currency to maintain the gold standard of 5 thalers to a Friedrich d'or pistole from the 1750s until 1873, long after all other states adopted the Conventionsthaler.
The Kronenthaler was a silver coin first issued in 1755 in the Austrian Netherlands and which became a popular trade coin in early 19th century Europe. Most examples show the bust of the Austrian ruler on the obverse and three or four crowns on the reverse, hence the name which means "crown thaler" (also Brabanter and crocione.
The riyal was the currency of the Kingdom of Hejaz between 1916 and 1925. It was subdivided into 20 qirsh. The riyal was a silver coin the same weight as the Ottoman 20 kuruş coin but was minted in .917 fineness rather than .830 fineness. The Hejaz riyal was replaced by the Saudi riyal in 1925 at par.
Trade coins are coins minted by a government, but not necessarily legal tender within the territory of the issuing country. These quasi-bullion coins were thus actually export goods – that is, bullion in the form of coins, used for the bulk purchase of important goods from other countries, where they could be bought at a favourable price, compared to the purchasing power of the same amount of bullion within the trade coins' country of origin.
The history and development of British currency in the Middle East emerged from the 19th century. British involvement in the Middle East began with the Aden Settlement in 1839. The British East India Company established an anti-piracy station in Aden to protect British shipping that was sailing to and from India. The Trucial States were similarly brought into the British Empire as a base for suppressing sea piracy in the Persian Gulf. Involvement in the region expanded to Egypt because of the Suez canal, as well as to Bahrain, Qatar, and Muscat. Kuwait was added in 1899 because of fears about the proposed Berlin-Baghdad Railway. There was a growing fear in the United Kingdom that Germany was a rising power, and there was concern about the implications of access to the Persian Gulf that would arise from the Berlin-Baghdad Railway. After the First World War the British influence in the Middle East reached its fullest extent with the inclusion of Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq.
The Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes it illegal to make fake versions of many things, including legal documents, contracts, audio and visual recordings, and money of the United Kingdom and certain protected coins. It replaces the Forgery Act 1913, the Coinage Offences Act 1936 and parts of the Forgery Act 1861. It implements recommendations made by the Law Commission in their report on forgery and counterfeit currency.
The Vienna Monetary Treaty of 1857 was a treaty that set a currency standard for use across the German Zollverein states, Austria, and Liechtenstein. The official name of the treaty was Monetary Treaty Between the German States of 24 January 1857.
The North German thaler was a currency used by several states of Northern Germany from 1690 to 1873, first under the Holy Roman Empire, then by the German Confederation. Originally equal to the Reichsthaler specie or silver coin from 1566 until the Kipper und Wipper crisis of 1618, a thaler currency unit worth less than the Reichsthaler specie was first defined in 1667 and became widely used after adoption of the Leipzig currency standard of 1690.
A Münzfuß is an historical term, used especially in the Holy Roman Empire, for an official minting or coinage standard that determines how many coins of a given type were to be struck from a specified unit of weight of precious metal. The Münzfuß, or Fuß ("foot") for short in numismatics, determined a coin's fineness, i.e. how much of a precious metal it would contain. Mintmaster Julian Eberhard Volckmar Claus defined the standard in his 1753 work, Kurzgefaßte Anleitung zum Probieren und Münzen, as follows: "The appropriate proportion of metals and the weight of the coin, measured according to their internal and external worth, or determined according to their quality, additives and fineness, number and weight, is called the Münzfuß."
