1/2 Thaler - Maximilian III

Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, served as Grand Master of the Teutonic Order from 1590 until his death in 1618 — an unusual appointment that effectively subordinated the Order's coinage program to Habsburg dynastic interests. By 1612, the Order's Mergentheim mint was producing thalers and their fractions primarily for ceremonial and administrative purposes rather than broad circulation, as the Order's territorial holdings in the Holy Roman Empire had long since ceased to function as a coherent economic zone. The Mergentheim issues of this period are correspondingly scarce in any grade.