1/2 Thaler

Magdeburg's civic coinage of the 1570s was struck under considerable political tension — the city was nominally under the authority of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg while simultaneously operating as a fiercely independent member of the Hanseatic League. The half thaler denomination served the city's long-distance trading relationships more than local exchange, circulating through the Elbe trade corridor into Hamburg and beyond.

The Archbishopric itself was in contested hands for much of this period, passing through a succession of Protestant administrators following the Reformation's grip on northern Germany — a situation that gave Magdeburg unusual autonomy in issuing civic silver under its own name rather than ecclesiastical authority.