2 Thalers - Ernest III

Ernest III ruled Schaumburg from 1601 until his death in 1622, presiding over a county whose silver coinage carried outsized ambition relative to its modest territorial footprint. The double thaler denomination — demanding nearly 58 grams of fine silver per piece — was as much a diplomatic instrument as a monetary one, circulated among princes and used in payments where single thalers would have seemed insufficient to the occasion.

Schaumburg's mint rights were a persistent source of friction with neighboring territories throughout this period. Production of large-module pieces like this double thaler was intermittent rather than sustained.