Expert: Brad Swain - 2/8/2010

Question
Hello Brad,
I have a Maria Theresa Taler on a Yemeni Bedouin Wedding Headdress that I can only see the reverse side due to how it is attached. I am hoping you can tell me more about the coin by what I can see as I am not wanting to damage the headdress. There is no dot between the 1780 and the X. There is also no dot after the AUS.DUX    The center of the coin is worn just how one would expect on a headdress. I believe this headdress to be rather old. From this information are you able to tell me if this is one of the more common Maria Theresa Talers or one I should look into further. Thanking you.

Answer
Hi Roslyn, The Maria Theresia Thaler coins were originally struck by Austria and portray the empress 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 well into the later 20th century.
The Maria Theresia thaler, which in the 19th century was quite simply the thaler of the Levant, vied especially with the Spanish peso as a coin of trade and was in widespread use throughout south-eastern Europe, present-day Turkey, the Arabian Peninsula and large parts of Africa. In Greece, for example, it was taken out of circulation only in 1882.
Instrumental in the spread of the Maria Theresia thaler was the coffee trade. In Ethiopia it was in circulation by the end of the 18th century and was the official currency from the beginning of the 19th century to 1936, when the country was occupied by Italy. The Maria Theresia thaler continued to be struck even later, for example, in Rome, London (until 1961) and even in Bombay. Today the Vienna mint continues to produce small amounts of the coin.
It should weigh 28.0668 grams and would contain .7517 of an ounce of silver and may be worth a little bit above that if uncirculated depending on collector demand.
Current gold and silver values: http://www.kitco.com/market/ .
You might also try a library for a copy of the Standard Catalog of World Coins for pictures, pricing and more info. Check here for differences in originals and restrikes: http://www.jdsworld.net/article/m_theresa_thalers.html

This answer IS a copy paste because it contains all the information possible on the Thaler and does cover all your questions points. The only thing I could possibly add is that:
If a coin has been damaged by becoming part of the jewelry or cannot be separated from the jewelry without damage then its value lies in the piece of jewelry and not as a coin.

Brad