Lion thaler
The Löwentaler ( Dutch Leeuwendaalder ) is a silver coin in use from the 16th to the 18th century , which was minted for the first time in 1575 in the Dutch province of Holland and later in all the provinces that formed the Union of Utrecht . It shows a knight and the coat of arms of the province in which the coin was minted on the obverse and a lion on the reverse. With a fineness of 750 ‰ it weighed 27.68 g. Its value was set at 32 stuivers (1 3/5 guilders ), although its value was only 29 stuivers . The remaining 3 students were to be used to finance the Dutch War of Liberation .
The Löwentaler became widespread through the Dutch Levant trade in the Middle East, where it was called Abu Kelb (father of the dog), but also in Eastern Europe, where in the 17th century Gdansk merchants were forced to use the Löwentaler instead of better coins such as Taler or To accept ducats . The imitation of this coin in Italy and Germany, not infrequently with a reduced silver content, was typical of the Kipper and Wipper era . Its low silver content with the increasing circulation of deteriorated reproductions ultimately led to the replacement of the lion thaler as a trade coin by piastres and Maria Theresa thalers .
Salzburg Löwentaler
The so-called Salzburger Löwentalern is an extreme numismatic rarity. After the Rübentaler, the best known and most famous rarity in the field of coins. The last Prince Archbishop of Salzburg, Hieronymus Graf von Colloredo (1772–1803), commissioned Franz Matzenkopf to make the stamps for new coins in 1790 . The design of the lapel, which was new and unusual for the prince-archbishopric, with two lions as a shield holder, immediately provoked the objection of the Bavarian elector because the Bavarian coins at the same time had a similar design of the lapel. In addition to the danger of confusion, the elector found it presumptuous that a clergy prince used lions as a shield holder, since this was actually a symbol of secular rulers. A total of 200 pieces were minted and some were issued. After the emperor also agreed to the Bavarian objection, Colloredo had to withdraw his coins. All but seven were melted down again. Of these seven pieces that escaped the melting pot, five are still detectable today, only two of which are known in the trade, the rest are in museums and collections. After more than 100 years, such a piece was last offered at auction house HD Rauch GmbH in Vienna in September 2010.