2 Thalers - Jakob Christoph Blarer von Wartensee

Jakob Christoph Blarer von Wartensee served as Prince-Bishop of Basel from 1575 until his death in 1608, presiding over a diocese whose political situation had grown increasingly precarious following the Reformation — the city of Basel itself had turned Protestant in 1529, forcing the episcopal seat to relocate to Porrentruy. This double thaler was struck during the height of the Counter-Reformation, a period in which Blarer aggressively pursued Catholic renewal throughout his remaining territories, including the founding of a Jesuit college at Porrentruy in 1591.

Large-denomination silver pieces of this type were minted in very small numbers and rarely entered ordinary commerce; they functioned primarily as presentation gifts and diplomatic currency among the imperial nobility.