2 Thalers - Ferdinand II

Augsburg's 1627 double thaler lands squarely in the early years of the Thirty Years' War, during which the city's status as a Free Imperial City made it a focal point of confessional tension between its Catholic and Protestant populations. Ferdinand II had reimposed Catholic authority over Augsburg in 1624 following decades of Protestant dominance, a move that generated deep civic fracture. The city's merchant elite, whose wealth underwrote issues like this one, were negotiating survival between imperial pressure and their own Reformed sympathies.

At 58+ grams, these double thalers served trade functions rather than everyday exchange, circulating among merchants and financiers who would have felt Ferdinand's religious policies acutely.