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1 Thaler Type 1
| Issuer | Riga, Free city of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1573 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Central device depicts the city gate of Riga, rendered as a fortified double-towered gateway with arched portal and decorative elements, all within a circular legend. The towers are surmounted by onion-shaped turrets, and the gate is shown in a stylized architectural manner typical of late 16th-century German-influenced coinage. The heraldic composition is flanked by the circular Latin legend around the periphery of the field. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Riga struck this thaler in the years immediately following its formal incorporation into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the Treaty of Drohiczyn (1559), a political accommodation that left the city with unusual autonomy and its own municipal coinage rights. The low silver content reflects the chronic bullion shortages afflicting Baltic minting in the 1570s — Riga was drawing on whatever metal could be sourced commercially rather than from consistent crown supply.
Davenport's EC I classification places this among the earliest thaler-weight billon issues from the city, predating the better-documented Sigismund III-era coinage by over a decade.