2 Kreuzers - Johann Ernst von Thun

Johann Ernst von Thun und Hohenstein ruled Salzburg from 1687 until his death in 1709, a period during which the archbishopric was heavily engaged in financing reconstruction following the devastating fire of 1818 — no, more relevantly, the ongoing costs of the Turkish wars pressing on the Habsburg periphery drew silver coinage into military fiscal channels across the entire region. Small-denomination silver like this 2 Kreuzer was the workhorse of everyday commerce in the prince-archbishopric, a territory with its own mint rights jealously maintained against imperial encroachment.

The Salzburg mint was among the most prolific small-state operations in the Holy Roman Empire during this decade.