THE MARIA THERESIA TALERS
And How To Identify The Restrike
Compiled by JD White
Modified February 18, 2007

When I became interested in the restrike talers a few years ago, it was quite difficult to locate any information about them.  Over time, this is what I have learned, I hope you find it useful.  Also, this is a work in progress and new images and data are added as I can find them.  If you have any coin images that fill in some of the blanks and you would like to share them with others, please contact me.
HISTORY   |   DESIGNS   |   1780 DESIGN VARIATIONS   |   THE RESTRIKE

- HISTORY -
Mira Theresa

The Archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia (1740-80), consort of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and dowager empress after the accession in 1765 of her son, Joseph I, Maria Theresia strengthened and unified the Austrian monarchy in the 18th century.  Born in Vienna on May 13, 1717, she was the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.  In 1736 she married Francis Stephen of Lorraine (later Holy Roman Emperor Francis I), and the couple eventually had 16 children, including two future emperors, Joseph II and Leopold II, and Marie Antoinette, later queen of France.

Her warm personality and strength of will won her the loyalty of her subjects and troops, to whom she appealed directly in moments of crisis. Her husband was given a share in governing her hereditary lands, but the actual government was in the hands of Maria Theresia.

On the 21st of September, 1753, Empress Maria Theresia signed a coinage convention with the Prince Elector of Bavaria.  This Treaty also defined the silver content of every coin and fixed ratio between the Gulden and Taler at 2:1. In addition, the coins had raised edged lettering to prevent clipping.

Between 1746 and her death on November 29, 1780, Austrian mints and the mints of several Austrian States produced no less than 43 different silver Taler designs using bust portraits of Maria Theresia, as well as, various denominations of Kreuzers, ¼ and ½ Talers, and gold Ducats.  The Maria Theresia Taler was also known as the "Levantine Taler" and has been considered the world's most famous silver coin.  The silver Taler itself was the currency of the Empire, the Austrian hereditary lands, and very important for trade with Levant (parts of Turkey, Lebanon, Syria).

The "Levantine Taler" also became the best known and most popular silver coin in the Arabian world and the unofficial currency of some of the lands in North Africa.  In Austria, Maria Theresia Talers were legal tender until October, 1958.  Owing to an imperial patent dating back to September 19, 1857, the 1780 design of the empress Maria Theresia "Levantine Talers" have been continuously restruck unchanged, as an historical souvenir combining beauty of design with the value of silver.


- MARIA THERESIA (BUST) THALER DESIGNS -

  • Dav.1109, KM1964, Vienna Mint, 1741-44, Rev: Crowned arms
  • Dav.1110, KM1965, Vienna Mint, 1744-45, Rev: Griffon supporters
  • Dav.1111, KM1966, Vienna Mint, 1746-52, Diademed young bust right
  • Dav.1112, KM1967, Vienna Mint, 1753, More mature armored bust right
  • Dav.1112, KM1967a, Vienna Mint, 1754-65, More mature armored bust right
  • Dav.1113, KM1968, Vienna Mint, 1758, 1765, (Young) armored bust right
  • Dav.1114, KM1969, Vienna Mint, Veiled bust right
  • Dav.1115, KM1970, Vienna Mint, 1767-72, Veiled head right
  • Dav.1116, KM1971.1, Vienna Mint, 1772-79, Smaller veiled head right
  • Dav.1117, KM1971.2, Vienna Mint.
    NOTE:1780, Obv larger bust, Rev IC-FA located below Eagles claws.
    Design restruck until 1784 with minor changes, NOT considered a restrike
  • KM1972, Ordens Mint, 1769 IC-SK, Veiled head right w/jeweled bust
  • Dav.1118, KM545, Graz Mint, 1765, Draped bust
  • Dav.1119, KM546, Graz Mint, 1765, Armored bust
  • Dav.1120, KM743, Hall Mint, 1746-65, Bust right in decorated gown
  • Dav.1121, KM744, Hall Mint, 1751-53 Bust right w/ plain gown
  • Dav.1121, KM745, Hall Mint, 1754-65, Bust right w/ plain gown
  • Dav.1122, KM746, Hall Mint, 1751-65, Mature armored bust right
  • Dav.1123, KM747, Hall Mint, 1765-72, Veiled bust right
  • Dav.1124, KM748, Hall Mint, 1772-76, Obv. smaller veil on bust, Rev. initials
  • Dav.1125, KM328.1, Hungary, 1741, Obv. leg: MA.THERESIA-D:G:REG:HUNG:BOH
  • Dav.1125A, KM328.2, Hungary, 1741-42, Obv. leg. ends:.. HUNG:BO
  • Dav.1125B, KM328.3, Hungary, 1741-42, Obv. leg: MA. Theresia.., ends:.. HUN:BO
  • Dav.1126, KM328.4, Hungary, 1743-44, Obv. leg: MA. Theresia.., ends:.. HUN:BO
  • Dav.1127, KM333, Kremnitz Mint, Hungary, 1743-44 O, Obv: modified hair style, leg ends: ...HO:BO, Rev: mint marks KM, large K left of rays at 09:00, large M right of rays at 03:00
  • Dav.1128, KM337.1, Kremnitz Mint, Hungary, 1744-45, Obv: smaller bust, Rev: mint marks KM, large K left of rays at 09:00, large M right of rays at 03:00
  • Dav.1129, KM337.2, Kremnitz Mint, Hungary, 1746-48, Obv. leg: M.THER...
  • Dav.1130, KM349.1, Kremnitz Mint, Hungary, 1749-52, Rev: larger shield below Madonna, mintmarks KM, small K left of rays at 07:00, small M right of rays at 05:00
  • Dav.1131, KM349.2, Hungary, 1751·X·, Rev: larger shield below Madonna
  • Dav...., KM349.3, Hungary, 1752·X·, modified drapery
  • Dav.1132, KM358.1, Hungary, 1751-65·X·
  • Dav.1135, KM358.2, Hungary, 1763, (reported, not confirmed) Mint mark NB
  • Dav....., KM358.3, Hungary, 1766, Mint mark K
  • Dav....., KM378, Hungary, 1763-64·X·, Decorative gown, Mint mark KB
  • Dav.1136, KM1539, Prague Mint, 1746-50, Bust right
  • Dav.1136A, KM1540, Prague Mint, 1751-60, Bust right, Rev. X after date
  • Dav.1137, KM1541, Prague Mint, 1758-59, Mature bust right, Rev. Crowned Imperial Eagle w/crowned arms of St. Joachim and Bohemia on breast, and crossed battle axes below eagle.
  • Dav.1138, KM1542, Prague Mint, 1767-72, Veiled head right
  • Dav.1139, KM1543, Prague Mint, 1773-75, Head right w/ smaller veil
  • Dav.1140, KM1544, Prague Mint, 1780, Large head veiled right (NOT a restrike)
  • Dav.1147, KM15, Burgau Mint, 1764-65, Armored bust right
  • Dav.1149, KM21, Burgau Mint, 1765-72, Veiled bust right
  • Dav.1150, KM22, Burgau Mint, 1773-80, Bust w/ smaller veil, Rev. leg: ARCHID·AUSTDUX·   Note: The KM22 1780 SF is NOT a restrike.
  • Dav.1151, KM23, Burgau Mint, 1780 SF/X/, Large mature bust, Rev. leg: ARCHID·AVST·DUX·  Note: This is the restrike design and is covered in more detail below.
KM23, 1780 DESIGN VARIATIONS
It is important to note that eight different Mints produced several different designs all considered KM23 between 1780 and 1784, but only one of these designs is the "official" restrike design authorized and restruck for the last 200 years.  The design variations limited in production (1780 to 1784) and produced in small quantities are:
  • IC-FA - Rev: IC-FA located below the eagle's claws, "IC" on the left and "FA" on the right, (Wienna Mint)
  • SF/·X· - Obv: S·F· located under the bust. Rev: ·X· located after the date as 1780·X·
  • FS - Obv: FS located under the bust
  • TS-SF - Obv: TS-SF located under the bust, "TS" in smaller type over S·F·
  • PS-IK - Rev: PS-IK located below the eagle's claws "PS" on the left and "IK" on the right
  • B-SK-PD - Obv: "B" located under bust. Rev: SK-PD located below the eagle's claws, "SK" on the left and "PD" on the right, (Kremnitz Mint, Hungary)
  • AH-GS - Obv: smaller bust with a different broach and dress. Rev: AH-GS located below the eagle's claws, "AH" on the left and "GS" on the right,(Karlsburg Mint).

THE RESTRIKE

The 1780 Large Mature Bust (Dav.1151, KM23, SF/·X design) has been authorized under Austrian law for use as restrikes since the death of Maria Theresia (shown below).  The original design was struck in southern Germany (then part of the Habsburg Empire) at the Gunzburg Mint in the last year of Maria Theresia's life.  Since that time with only minor design changes, it has been restruck about 800 million times by several different nations, primarily as a trade coin using the same design and 1780 date.  These nations included:

  Vienna 1920-37  Rome 1935-38  Paris 1935-57  London 1936-61
 Brussels 1937-57  Bombay 1940-41  Birmingham 1949-55  Vienna 1957 to date

In it's heyday, it was the most widely accepted silver coin in the Middle East and North Africa, nearly becoming an unofficial currency in some areas.  In many African countries, this coin was still used as legal tender into the Second World War.  in 1961, the Austrian government ruled that no other country could strike the talers and all restrikes are now produced at the Vienna Mint.
- Edge Arabesques and Saltires -
After 1784, identifying what mint produced which restrike can be difficult at best. However, there are two helpful diagnostics, the arabesques located on the coin's edge, and the saltire locate on the reverse after the date. The saltire is actually a pair of crossed staves that appear as an "X" located after the date. The saltire was added after 1750 denoting Maria Theresia's reign over the Austrian Netherlands. The figure to the right is a line drawing of many of these markings, and as shown in the restrike image below, these markings are not always well defined.
Line drawings representing many of the edge arabesques and saltires. (Modified Broome)

- Restrike Variants -

The following link is to a web site that describes Maria Theresia Taler (restrike) variants, complete with images, using data from the book, "Der Maria Theresia Taler 1780" by Dr. Fanz Leypold. Presented are design variations in brooch, shield, signature, saltire and tails feather designs 1780 to the present. You should take note of the fact that tail feather variants were limited to the period between 1780 to 1795 and then only from the Guenzburg mint. In addition, with only one exception, saltire variants where produced before 1853. As you use this table to prove to yourself that you have a coin struck very early please remember, dark toning and wear have little or nothing to do with the age of the coin. And with the possibility of as many as 800 million restrike coins produced since 1780, you shouldn't get your hopes too high that you have an early restrike in your possession.

- Rome Restrike Diagnostic -


Image provided by: Piergi, Italy. 		The 1935-38 Rome restrike reverse design has two pin feathers below each of the eagles main tail feathers (circled in red at the left). A web page (in Italian) dedicated to this coin can be found HERE.

- The Vienna Restrike Defined -

1780 Taler Restrike
KM23, Burgau Mint, 1780 SF/X/, Large Mature Bust Restrike, (the "SF" is located under the obverse bust as S·F· while the "X" (saltire) follows the date on the reverse as 1780·X.

The obverse has a portrait of the mature Empress wearing a widow's veil (designed to meet Arabic demands) and a broach with nine pearls.  The obverse Latin inscription:
"M · THERESIA · D · G · R · IMP · HU · BO · REG · " translates as: Maria Theresia, by the grace of God Roman Empress, of Hungary and Bohemia Queen.  The initials "S · F · ", located under the bust represent the two 1780 Günzburg mint officials, Tobias Schöbl (S) and Joseph Faby (F).

The reverse displays the imperial double-headed eagle with the Austrian shield in the center divided into quarters for Hungary, Bohemia, Burgundy and Burgau.  The reverse Latin inscription: "ARCHID · AUST · DUX · BURG · CO · TYR · 1780 · X" translates as: Archduchess of Austria, Duchess of Burgundy, Countess of Tyrol 1780.

The raised edge has variety of decorative arabesques which separate the Latin inscription: "IUSTITIA ET CLEMENTIA" which translates as: "Justice and Clemency" , the official motto of the two principles on which Maria Theresia based her whole life.

1780 Shield-of-arms 1780 Restrike reverse Austrian Shield of Arms.

Divided into four quadrants and comprised of four different provincial coat of arms.

NOTE: Earlier designs (pre 1780) used a more complex Shield, a Modanna, or only a single coat of arms representing the provisioning province that minted the coin.


View Eight Toned Restrikes by selecting the coin at the right. Image

Resource List:
  • The 1780 Restrike Talers of Maria Theresia, M.R. Broome, as presented in the 1972 Numismatic Chronicle, Seventh Series, Volume XII, by the Royal Numismatic Society
  • Mince Marie Terezie, 1740-1780, by Vlastislav Novotny, Hodonin 2001
  • "Lexicon of the MARIA THERESIEN TALER", by Walter Hafner
  • Der Maria Theresia Taler 1780 by Dr. Fanz Leypold
  • The Standard Catalog of World Coins, 18th Century 1701-1800, Second Edition, Krause Publications 1997
  • Corpus Nummorum Regni Mariae Theresia, Tassilo Eypeltauer 1973
  • The Comprehensive US Silver Dollar Encyclopedia, John W. Highfill 1992
  • Royal Austrian Mint
  • Royal Austrian Mint's Restrike brochure with coin
  • Encyclopedia Britannica
  • Elgin Coin Club Newsletter
  • Oman and the Maria Theresia Taler, by Viju James
  • Catalogo Alfa delle Monete Italiane e Regioni, Alfa Edizioni, Torino
  • Translation assistance - Martin Purdy, Translation from W. European Languages

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