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1/2 Thaler
| Issuer | City of Solothurn |
|---|---|
| Year | 1550-1599 |
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| Currency | Guldiner (15th century-1579) |
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|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | * MONETA * SOLODORENSIS * S O (Translation: Money of Solothurn) |
| Reverse description | Full-length standing figure of Saint Ursus, patron martyr of Solothurn, depicted in armour facing right. In his raised right hand he holds an elongated lance surmounted by a cross-flag (gonfalon), while his left hand rests upon the hilt of a sword at his side. The figure is rendered in a late-Gothic to early-Renaissance style and is contained within the circular Latin legend, the whole enclosed by a beaded inner border. |
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| Additional information |
Solothurn occupied an unusual position among the Swiss Confederacy's minting authorities — a Catholic cantonal city that maintained its own coinage well into the early modern period despite persistent pressure from larger neighbors. The second half of the sixteenth century saw the city navigating the religious fractures of the Reformation while sustaining commercial ties that demanded reliable silver fractions. Half thalers of this period were working monetary instruments, not ceremonial pieces, circulating alongside issues from Bern and Fribourg in a region where no single authority dominated trade.
The HMZ reference places this within a well-documented but relatively small series; surviving examples in collectible condition are scarce enough that auction appearances attract serious specialist attention.