Thaler

The Archbishopric of Salzburg, now within Austrian borders, was one of the six archbishopric duchies in the German Reich. In addition to the ecclesiastical power exercised in the diocese, the archbishops of Salzburg also held secular power within their duchy, a manifestation of which was the right to mint their own money. The presented thaler was minted by Paris of Lodron (1586–1653), Duke and Archbishop of Salzburg from 1619 to 1653. The obverse of the coin depicts the Virgin Mary with the Child and a sceptre in her right hand. Her sanctuary, famous for its graces, still exists today in Altötting near Salzburg. The figure of Mary is surrounded by a Latin inscription, the first verse of the antiphon “Under your protection we take refuge”, which was not placed there by accident. The coin was struck two years after Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria (1573–1651) proclaimed Mary the patron of Bavaria. Below is the personal coat of arms of Archbishop Paris with the lion of the Grafs of Lodron. On the reverse, above the Salzburg coat of arms, there is a half-figure of St Rudbert (650–718), the first bishop of the diocese, patron of the cathedral and the city of Salzburg. In addition to the traditional symbols of episcopal authority, the mitre and the crosier, St Rudbert is depicted with a barrel of salt in his right hand. It was he who induced the Bavarian princes, Theodon II (625/11–716) and his son, to make generous endowments to the Church and to donate the salt mines as endowments to the monastery they had founded. Along with the saltworks, the monastery received a transshipment port in the former Roman Iuvavum, which has been known as Salzburg since 755. St Rudbert is therefore also credited with the founding of this town. The motifs of the Virgin Mary with the Child and the sceptre, and of St Rudbert with the barrel of salt was used many times more by the archbishop dukes in their thaler minting. The archbishops of Salzburg remained independent until 1803, when the duchy was secularised and the Electorate of Salzburg was created. That year also saw the end of the minting of the beautiful archbishop’s thalers, which had lasted for almost 250 years.

Mieszko Pawłowski