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1/2 Thaler
| Issuer | City of Bern |
|---|---|
| Year | 1796-1797 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A full-length figure of a Swiss warrior stands facing, attired in 16th-century mercenary costume comprising a plumed morion helmet, slashed doublet adorned with a cross motif on the breastplate, puffed sleeves, and slashed breeches. He rests his right hand on the pommel of a long sword planted point-down on a rocky groundline, while his left hand rests upon his hip. The date appears in the exergue below the groundline. The Latin legend DOMINUS PROVIDEBIT arcs around the upper periphery, divided on either side of the figure. |
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| Reverse lettering | DOMINUS PROVIDEBIT 1797 |
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| Additional information |
Bern struck these half thalers in the final two years before the French invasion of February 1798, which ended the city-state's independent monetary authority permanently. The Helvetic Republic that followed imposed a unified coinage system, making this one of the last issues produced under Bern's centuries-old civic minting tradition. The treasury looted by French forces upon entering the city — estimated at tens of millions of livres — was partly composed of exactly this circulating silver.