1 Thaler

Kaufbeuren was a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire, and its right to strike thalers derived directly from imperial privilege — a right jealously guarded and intermittently contested throughout the sixteenth century. The year 1547 places this coin in the immediate shadow of the Battle of Mühlberg, where Charles V crushed the Schmalkaldic League in April of that year, reshaping the political footing of Protestant imperial cities including Kaufbeuren itself.

Kaufbeuren's thaler production was limited and sporadic, which accounts for the rarity of dated pieces from this decade. Davenport's assignment to GT I reflects its classification among the earlier German taler issues catalogued before his expanded later volumes.