1 Thaler - Ferdinand III Brünn

Ferdinand III struck thalers at Brünn (Brno) during precisely the years the Thirty Years' War ground toward its conclusion — the Peace of Westphalia was finally signed in October 1648, the last year of this issue's run. Brünn itself had withstood a Swedish siege in 1645, repelling a force under General Torstenson in one of the war's more remarkable defensive stands. That the mint resumed meaningful production the following year, while negotiations in Westphalia dragged on, speaks to the administrative determination to maintain Habsburg fiscal machinery even in exhausted territories.

Dav EC II#3216 distinguishes the Brünn output from contemporaneous Ferdinand III thalers struck at Prague and Kuttenberg, which share the KM#929 base number with different suffixes.