Taler (redirected from thalers)

Taler 

(also thaler), a silver coin first minted in 1518, in Joachimsthal, Bohemia (present-day Jáchymov, Czechoslovakia), whence, therefore, its name—Joachimst(h)aler or simply taler. Beginning in 1555 the taler was adopted as a monetary unit throughout the Holy Roman Empire; it was later used also in Poland, Sweden, France, and Turkey. Originally, the taler contained 28–29 g—sometimes more than 30 g—of pure silver. In 1857, however, its silver content was fixed at 16.67 g in northern Germany and Austria. After the monetary reform of 1871–73 in Germany, the minting of taler coins, now equal to three gold marks each, was discontinued. When it was resumed, in 1908, the taler was given a face value of three marks.

The name “taler” was variously adopted in several countries to designate coins of large denominations containing approximately one ounce (27–30 g) of silver—for example, tallero in Italy, daalder in the Netherlands, datero in Spain, and dollar in English-speaking as well as other countries. In the mid-17th century, the Moscow treasury minted silver coins from the imported Joachimsthalers (seeEFIMOK).