Joachimsthal — Jáchymov in modern Czech — was the mine that gave the thaler its name, and by the early seventeenth century the Counts of Schlick had long since lost direct control of it to the Habsburgs. Rudolf II ruled Bohemia from Prague, and his relationship with the Bohemian estates was deteriorating badly during these precise years; the Letter of Majesty granting religious freedoms wouldn't come until 1609, under duress. Silver from the Erzgebirge was still flowing, but the political machinery around it was under strain.
The two-thaler denomination was struck in limited quantities for presentation and trade rather than general circulation, which accounts for the survival rate in collectible condition.
Joachimsthal — Jáchymov in modern Czech — was the mine that gave the thaler its name, and by the early seventeenth century the Counts of Schlick had long since lost direct control of it to the Habsburgs. Rudolf II ruled Bohemia from Prague, and his relationship with the Bohemian estates was deteriorating badly during these precise years; the Letter of Majesty granting religious freedoms wouldn't come until 1609, under duress. Silver from the Erzgebirge was still flowing, but the political machinery around it was under strain.
The two-thaler denomination was struck in limited quantities for presentation and trade rather than general circulation, which accounts for the survival rate in collectible condition.