2 Thalers

Hamburg's 2 Thaler pieces of the 1590s were struck at a moment when the city was aggressively asserting its commercial independence — trade with the Iberian Peninsula was booming, and large-denomination silver was the working currency of serious merchants. The heavy weight placed this squarely in the territory of major contract payments and bulk commodity settlement, not everyday commerce.

Gaedechens 1515 is among the scarcer Hamburg multiples of the period. Dies wore quickly at this size, and production runs were short.