1 Thaler - Ernest Louis Itter Ausbeute

An Ausbeute thaler — struck from silver extracted at a specific mine and typically presented as a gift or bounty to the mine's owner or investors. The Itter designation points to the Itter mining district in the Hessian highlands, where silver extraction was modest compared to the great Saxon or Bohemian operations but politically meaningful enough for Landgrave Ernst Ludwig to commemorate. These pieces were rarely intended for circulation; most were distributed at court or retained as records of mineral rights.

Ernst Ludwig's reign from 1678 to 1739 was financially precarious — he leaned heavily on French subsidies under Louis XIV and later shifted alliances under pressure. The 1714 date places this strike in the immediate aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession.