1/2 Thaler

Nuremberg's half thalers of this period were produced under the city's own mintmaster authority — a privilege jealously maintained against repeated Habsburg pressure to consolidate imperial minting. The years 1614–1616 fall within a stretch of acute political anxiety for the city: the Donauwörth affair of 1607 had already demonstrated that the Emperor could revoke a free city's imperial status on religious pretense, and Nuremberg's council was acutely aware of its exposure.

Kelln 168 is associated with the mintmaster Jakob Wolff, whose tenure saw careful attention to silver fineness as a matter of civic reputation.