Leopold V ruled Tyrol from 1619 until his death in 1632, a period during which the Thirty Years' War created sustained demand for fractional silver coinage to fund military operations and pay troops moving through Alpine passes. The Hall mint — Tyrol's primary silver-striking facility, fed directly by ore from the Schwaz mines — produced this quarter thaler across the span of his reign.
Schwaz had been the richest silver source in Europe a century earlier, though by the 1620s output had declined sharply from its peak. Enough remained to sustain a credible coinage program through Leopold's final years.
Leopold V ruled Tyrol from 1619 until his death in 1632, a period during which the Thirty Years' War created sustained demand for fractional silver coinage to fund military operations and pay troops moving through Alpine passes. The Hall mint — Tyrol's primary silver-striking facility, fed directly by ore from the Schwaz mines — produced this quarter thaler across the span of his reign.
Schwaz had been the richest silver source in Europe a century earlier, though by the 1620s output had declined sharply from its peak. Enough remained to sustain a credible coinage program through Leopold's final years.