1/2 thaler

Bogislaw XIV minted thalers, their fractions, and multiples en masse during the Thirty Years' War. Between 1628 and 1634, production was channelled towards the upkeep of the imperial and, later, Swedish occupation troops, which consumed millions of thalers, leaving aside the costs associated with providing horses and soldiers. At the two mints, Szczecin and Koszalin, the silver obtained from houses, churches, and even the duke's treasury was melted down and struck into coins. We know more than 60 types and many variations of these large popular denominations. The presented coin follows the iconographic design of the Pomeranian thalers, with the ruler's bust on the obverse and Western Pomerania's great coat of arms on the reverse. All bear an extended ducal titulature, denoting the lands the coins were minted for. The half-talar coins feature a rather original crowning of the shield with a ducal cap. This distinctive insignia of power is only found on coins of the last Pomeranian duke. The half-talar bears no signatures, so we know neither the name of the engraver nor the place of its production. Previous attempts to distinguish between mints, based on the symbolism of the bishopric, the shield with a cross, and the bishop's title in the titulature, have proved unreliable. Genowefa Horoszko