I know that the Dav# associated with a taler is from Davenport's guide, but what is a km# with the newer talers?
The K is for Krause, I think the M is for Media but have no proof of that. Krause Pubications is owned by F+W Media. The K#desination may have previously used by E. Kahn's Illustrated Catalog of Chinese Coins. So Krause had to add the M to differentiate from that. Y# is for R.S. Yeoman. Who also cataloged coins. there are others also like FR#, P#, V#, pertaining to different authors
(L): Clifford Mishler; (R): Chester ("Chet") Krause. 2015 photo. Source link Mr. Krause died just this June, at the age of 92. We world coin collectors the world over owe these two gentlemen a debt of gratitude. The KM (Krause-Mishler) numbers identify world coins by type. This is standard nomenclature in the Krause Publications Standard Catalog of World Coins (SCWC) for pretty much everything minted after 1601. (They may even cover some German issues a little prior to 1600- I don't remember. Not in the Standard Catalog, but in the specialized German Coins catalog.) The SCWC is pretty much "the bible" for general world coin collecting, as it covers practically everything. There is a volume covering each century from the 17th to the 21st. Krause Publications of course publishes a whole lot more than the Standard Catalog, too. The Krause SCWC has its gaps and flaws (what publication wouldn't, when it attempts to cover every coin from every country from every year?), but it's called the "Standard" for a reason. In some areas of specialization, other references will supercede Krause, but again, it is the general, all-encompassing reference. So that's where those "KM" numbers come in. Now, about the numbers. Note I have four different coins from four different countries listed here. Yet the last two of them are both KM3! How can that be, you ask? It is because the numbering is by country, so Ireland's KM3 is one type, and KM3 for the Straits Settlements is another.
