Augsburg's 1629 half thaler falls squarely within the Thirty Years' War, a conflict that devastated the city's trade networks and strained its mint operations considerably. The Free City had managed to maintain confessional neutrality through the early phases of the war, but 1629 was the year the Edict of Restitution shattered that arrangement, forcing the restoration of Catholic Church properties and effectively ending Augsburg's political independence in religious matters. The city's finances were under acute pressure from both imperial demands and the cost of maintaining its own defenses.
Forster/Schmelzing 228 places this piece within a short sequence of half thaler issues from the period, struck to meet fractional payment demands when full thalers were increasingly hoarded.
Augsburg's 1629 half thaler falls squarely within the Thirty Years' War, a conflict that devastated the city's trade networks and strained its mint operations considerably. The Free City had managed to maintain confessional neutrality through the early phases of the war, but 1629 was the year the Edict of Restitution shattered that arrangement, forcing the restoration of Catholic Church properties and effectively ending Augsburg's political independence in religious matters. The city's finances were under acute pressure from both imperial demands and the cost of maintaining its own defenses.
Forster/Schmelzing 228 places this piece within a short sequence of half thaler issues from the period, struck to meet fractional payment demands when full thalers were increasingly hoarded.