1 Thaler - Matthias II Prague

Matthias II secured the Bohemian crown in 1611 only after forcing his brother Rudolf II to abdicate — a humiliation accomplished partly by marching an army into Bohemia itself. His reign over the kingdom lasted just eight years, ending with his death in 1619, months before the Battle of White Mountain shattered the Protestant nobility that had never fully accepted him. Prague thalers of this period were struck at a mint already operating under mounting political tension, with the Bohemian Estates and the Habsburg court in increasingly open conflict over religious and constitutional rights.

The defenestration of Prague occurred in May 1618, while these coins were still being produced.