Expert: Dmitry Livshits - 2/7/2012

Question
Dear sir,
Maria Theresia Thalers 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 series of the coin.
This is history of coin maria theresia thaler 1780.now i want to know that the coin which i own belongs to which era  as all maria thaler are dated 1780 only.is my coin rare or not.whether genuine or not and worth how much.i got above said info from site: www.theresia.name

Answer
Hi Bhargav,
Your coin appears to have two tail feathers in the center row of the tail. It is difficult to see for sure from the picture. This would make it the Calcutta or Bombay type, possibly the Birmingham type from the 1920's up to 1940's. This type is R1 rarity, which is fairly common for these coins and would be worth only a little more than the modern and most common restrikes.
I should note that I would need to see a much closer picture to be sure, because a lot of the signs are very small details.
Thanks again! =)