1 Guldiner - Sigismund Hall

The 1486 Guldiner struck at Hall in Tyrol is widely regarded as the first large silver coin struck in quantity for general circulation in European history — the direct ancestor of the thaler series that would eventually give the dollar its name. Sigismund, Archduke of Austria, authorized the issue after Tyrol's silver mines at Schwaz were producing at a scale that made large-denomination silver coinage economically viable for the first time. Schwaz was at that moment arguably the most productive silver mining operation in the world.

Relatively few survivors exist in original condition; most circulated hard before the type was superseded.