1 Thaler - Ferdinand II Hall

Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria and Count of Tyrol, operated the Hall mint with unusual autonomy during this period — his court at Innsbruck functioned almost independently of the main Habsburg administration in Vienna. His tenure saw significant output from Hall, partly to fund an extravagant lifestyle that included the famous collection now housed in Schloss Ambras. The mint at Hall had been mechanized using roller presses as early as the 1560s, though hammered production continued alongside it.

MT#281 spans nearly two decades of output, meaning die variation across the type is considerable. Ferdinand died in 1595, the same year this issue closes.