Apafi's 1687 thaler was struck in the final months of his principality's real independence. By that year, Transylvania had signed the Diploma Leopoldinum — formalized the following year — effectively placing the principality under Habsburg suzerainty. Apafi retained his title until his death in 1690, but issued coinage increasingly as a client ruler rather than a sovereign one.
Huszár E#730 distinguishes this date within a series that saw sharply declining mint output through the late 1680s as Ottoman tribute obligations and Habsburg military requisitions drained the treasury simultaneously.
Apafi's 1687 thaler was struck in the final months of his principality's real independence. By that year, Transylvania had signed the Diploma Leopoldinum — formalized the following year — effectively placing the principality under Habsburg suzerainty. Apafi retained his title until his death in 1690, but issued coinage increasingly as a client ruler rather than a sovereign one.
Huszár E#730 distinguishes this date within a series that saw sharply declining mint output through the late 1680s as Ottoman tribute obligations and Habsburg military requisitions drained the treasury simultaneously.