I just got my first Bavarian 2 Thalers and noticed a difference in sizes. Size of the first 2 thaler of 1840 is what i am used to see with my other German state 2 thalers. However the next two of 1841 and 1844 seems to be small in diameter and much dense/thicker. All the references mention same weigh 37.12g. I am wondering if this is true for all 2 thalers produced in Bavaria later than 1840.
Standard sizes of thalers, and thus 2 thalers, changed throughout the years. I don't know the exact boundaries but very plausible that such a change occurred around 1840.
The thaler coins based on the 1837 Dresden Convention (later "succeeded" by the 1857 Vienna Convention) had a fine weight of 1 Cologne Mark, i.e. ~233.85 g. That would be 7 Doppelthaler. Not sure about the size variations; I do not collect such pieces. But I know that the Doppelthaler was not popular due to its size and value - it was colloquially called Champagne Thaler as you could hardly use it for everyday transactions. Edit - Only the first one actually says "Vereinsmünze" (Convention Coin); the other two apparently are what is called Geschichts-Doppeltaler (History Double Thalers). Here are three examples, all with the same raw and fine weight (37.12 and 33.41 g) but different diameters: https://www.hdbg.eu/koenigreich/web/index.php/objekte/index/id/654 41 mm http://www.heubach-edelmetalle.de/content/altdeutschland-bayern-ludwig-geschichtsdoppeltaler-1842 40 mm https://www.hdbg.eu/koenigreich/web/index.php/objekte/index/id/652 38 mm Christian
Thank you Christian. I agree these are bit bulky to carry around. Most of the 2 talers i have seen in auction houses are in circulated conditions though. It could be just handling and not really used for transactions.
Nice coins - saw them on Heritage and got way outbid (out of my price range). Congratulations on winning some beautiful coins. The first one is a "standard" coin, while the other two are "commemoratives", perhaps that explains the sizes?
lol , yes i did won these on heritage to much annoyance of my wife. I saved all this year and sold considerable portion of my crowns on ebay to fund this and other purchases of pre long beach sale. I don't regret and love all the coins. But i am broke for a while wrt adding more crowns to my collections. I see they have the part 2 of the German coins coming up pretty soon. Btw i think it was comparatively inexpensive those doppeltalers sold at heritage. Only wish i could buy couple more.
$200 price range for a coin that is not part of my "main" collection is a bit much for me. Rather spend Heritage money on British Trade Dollars
