1 Thaler - Ferdinand I Hall

Ferdinand I struck these thalers at Hall in Tyrol — the mint that had pioneered large-silver coinage in the German-speaking world just decades earlier, when Archduke Sigismund issued the first true guldengroschen in 1486. Hall's position on the Inn River gave it reliable access to Tyrolean silver from the Schwaz mines, then among the most productive in Europe. At peak output in the mid-sixteenth century, Schwaz was supplying roughly 85% of Europe's silver.

The sixteen-year span of this issue reflects Ferdinand's consolidation of Habsburg hereditary lands following his brother Charles V's abdication negotiations — a long run that accounts for the considerable die variety documented across Markl's numbering.