1⁄24 Thaler - Matthias

Matthias was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1612 following a prolonged struggle with his brother Rudolf II, during which he systematically stripped Rudolf of his territorial authority. The Bishopric of Halberstadt, as an imperial ecclesiastical state, struck coinage acknowledging his rule — this 1/24 Thaler being part of that brief obligatory output during the first years of his reign.

The 1/24 Thaler denomination was the workhorse of everyday commerce in northern German territories during the early seventeenth century, its value pegged loosely to the Reichsmünzordnung standards that were already beginning to fray before the catastrophe of the Kipper- und Wipperzeit debased the system entirely after 1618.