These thalers were struck during the heart of the Thirty Years' War, when Nuremberg was functioning less as a prosperous trading city and more as a staging ground and refuge. The city hosted the 1632 military conference between Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and the Protestant princes, and Swedish forces camped outside the walls for months that year in a grinding standoff with Wallenstein's army. Food shortages within the city were severe enough to kill thousands of civilians and soldiers alike.
Nuremberg maintained its mint through the entire conflict, partly as a practical necessity — paying garrison troops and provisioning costs demanded hard coin. The KM#139 type spans four years of that pressure.
These thalers were struck during the heart of the Thirty Years' War, when Nuremberg was functioning less as a prosperous trading city and more as a staging ground and refuge. The city hosted the 1632 military conference between Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and the Protestant princes, and Swedish forces camped outside the walls for months that year in a grinding standoff with Wallenstein's army. Food shortages within the city were severe enough to kill thousands of civilians and soldiers alike.
Nuremberg maintained its mint through the entire conflict, partly as a practical necessity — paying garrison troops and provisioning costs demanded hard coin. The KM#139 type spans four years of that pressure.