When I was a youngster, I was drawn into coin collecting by my mother's sister who was an avid coin collector. She was in the military, and when she would come home from leave and visit us, she would show me coins that she had collected in countries she had visited. I collected coins myself as a schoolboy, and then when I was in the service, from countries I had visited. My dear Aunt passed away in '97, and I inherited part of her coin collection, nothing too valuable, but a load of nice things. I found this coin in a steel box that is made to hold 2x2's. Thaler Crown 1780. Also there are two others, wrapped in aluminum foil and placed into square envelopes both labeled Restrike. Can any one enlighten me about these 3 coins? Wyliecoyote
It's what is known as a Maria Theresa Thaler. They were first struck by Austria and portray the empress of that name who reigned 1740-80. The coin was used as an unofficial trade dollar in Africa and the Near East and nearly a billion were restruck with the same date by many world mints. It contains about 3/4 of an ounce of silver and may be worth about $5-$6 if uncirculated. You might also try a library for a copy of the Standard Catalog of World Coins for pictures, pricing and more info. Here's the web site on identifying the restrikes: http://www.jdsworld.net/article/m_theresa_thalers.html
As for the picture: The SF is under the bust. The coin is a restrike , made upto a permission by the Austrian authorities in 1853... the original 1780 Thalers had letters on either side of Emblem. I have such coin in my collection.
