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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Zohar444, post: 714840, member: 13450&quot;]<span style="color: black">Swiss Talers are not my specialty, and specifically this one is quite worn, therefore I would not suspect forgery. I can say that this is a coin from the Swiss Canton of St. Gallen, depicting the bear. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/swiss_specials/swiss_bread/st_gallus_and_the_bear/en/history/alamans_to_the_holy_roman_empire/the_role_of_christianity/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/swiss_specials/swiss_bread/st_gallus_and_the_bear/en/history/alamans_to_the_holy_roman_empire/the_role_of_christianity/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: black">St Gallus</span></a><span style="color: black">, the Irish missionary who preached in the area of Lake Constance was charitable with his bread</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: black">One version of the St Gallus legend tells how he gave bread to a hungry bear, which in gratitude helped him build the log cabin which later developed into one of the greatest </span><a href="http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/swiss_specials/swiss_bread/st_gallus_and_the_bear/en/geography/towns/st_gallen/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/swiss_specials/swiss_bread/st_gallus_and_the_bear/en/geography/towns/st_gallen/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: black">Swiss monasteries</span></a><span style="color: black">. Another version has it that he first commanded the bear to help him, and only afterwards gave it the bread as a reward - and on condition it never returned. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: black">Be that as it may, the oldest depiction of bread known in Switzerland is an ivory carving of this scene, dating from the 9th or 10th century. Gallus has left his name in the canton and city of St Gallen in eastern Switzerland, but the bear has not been forgotten either: it lives on in the flags of the commune of St Gallen and of the two </span><a href="http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/swiss_specials/swiss_bread/st_gallus_and_the_bear/en/history/middle_ages/the_territory_expands/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.swissworld.org/en/switzerland/swiss_specials/swiss_bread/st_gallus_and_the_bear/en/history/middle_ages/the_territory_expands/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: black">Appenzell</span></a><span style="color: black"> half cantons, which were once monastery lands.</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: black">The <b>Thaler</b> was the currency of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_of_St._Gallen" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_of_St._Gallen" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: black">St. Gallen</span></a><span style="color: black"> until 1798. It was subdivided into 2 <i>Gulden</i>, each of 60 <i>Kreuzer</i> or 240 <i>Pfennig</i>. It was replaced by the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_frank#History" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_frank#History" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: black">Frank</span></a><span style="color: black"> of the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetian_Republic" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helvetian_Republic" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: black">Helvetian Republic</span></a><span style="color: black"> in 1798. This was, in turn, replaced by the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Gallen_frank" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Gallen_frank" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: black">St. Gallen Frank</span></a><span style="color: black">. Coins were issued by both the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_of_St._Gall" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_of_St._Gall" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: black">Abbey of St. Gall</span></a><span style="color: black"> and the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Gallen" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Gallen" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: black">City</span></a><span style="color: black">.</span>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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