More about coins

The Prague groschen, minted according to a French model, retained its iconography throughout its validity (until 1547) – the Bohemian royal crown with the name and title of the monarch on the obverse, and the Bohemian lion with the words GROSSI PRAGENSES on the reverse. With the exception of the kreutzer currency in 1561–1573, the European monetary and coinage system survived until the 19th century.

The oldest thaler mintages bear the year 1520 and are connected to the hereditary minting of the Schlick family in Jáchymov. The town also gave its name to the new silver coin (JOACHIMSTALER-TALER-THALER; hence the English word “dollar”). Government minting was initiated by Ferdinand I in 1529 in Jáchymov, while the Prague mint made its first mintage ten years later (1539).

In the 16th century, the need for small coins was covered by the renewed mintage of white groschen, and since 1576, also small groschen with half the value – the first coin in our history to bear an inscription in Czech. “White” and “small” coins issued by Bohemian and Moravian mints remained in circulation. Coins with different iconography were minted by the estates of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia during the Bohemian Revolt. The coinage code of 28 June 1619 prescribed a return to the kreutzer, but the thaler remained as the main currency.

Austrian governmental minting went through a deep crisis at the start of the Thirty Years’ War. On 18 January 1622, Ferdinand II rented governmental mints in Bohemia, Moravia, and Austria to a fifteen-member minting consortium, which minted thalers of substantially lower weight, with minimal silver content. These coins were colloquially called long coins. On 14 December 1623, Ferdinand II was forced to declare state bankruptcy.

The cross thaler, the mintage of which started in 1714 in Austrian Netherlands, was a popular coin used especially in trade with the Orient. The coin later spread to other European mints. The cross thaler remained in circulation until the 19th century, primarily during military campaigns, as it was used to pay soldiers’ salaries. It was characterised by the depiction on the back of three crowns between the lines of the saltire (St Anthony’s Cross – hence the name of the coin).

Even more popular were Maria Theresa, or Levant, thalers. They bore the date 1780, the year of Maria Theresa’s death, and the mark SF. They were initially minted in Günzburg, but later their minting spread to other European countries. Levant thalers served as circulation coins until 1858, and from 1893, they were only used as trade coins, with a fixed silver content. In north-eastern Africa and the southern part of the Arab Peninsula, they remained in circulation until the 1950s. The Vienna mint has been minting Levant thalers as commemorative coins up to this day. According to estimates, 320 million Maria Theresa thalers were minted between the late 18th century and now.

Rescue archaeological research at Helfštýn Castle has uncovered valuable numismatic material. Coins were not found in a mass depot, but rather singly. They included small coins of Bohemian, Moravian, and Silesian origin from the Thirty Years’ War. This signifies the presence of mercenaries staying beyond the Helfštýn Castle walls during the war. An interesting find was a three-kreutzer of Beneš Hübmer of Prague from 1622, representing a long coin in Moravia.

An exception, and the oldest coin among the finds at Helfštýn, is the black heller minted in Prague in the first half of the 15th century.