The Thaler

Thaler

The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in various currencies as the dollar or tolar. Etymologically, "Thaler" is an abbreviation of "Joachimsthaler", a coin type from the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia, where some of the first such...

was the currency

Currency

In economics, currency refers to a generally accepted medium of exchange. These are usually the coins and banknotes of a particular government, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply...

 of the Electorate

Prince-elector

The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...

, later Kingdom of Hanover

Kingdom of Hanover

The Kingdom of Hanover was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg , and joined with 38 other sovereign states in the German...

 until 1857. Until 1834, it was equal to three quarters of a Conventionsthaler

Conventionsthaler

The Conventionstaler was a standard silver coin of the Holy Roman Empire. It was introduced in 1754 and contained one tenth of a Cologne mark of silver ....

 and was subdivided into 36 Mariengroschen, each of 8 Pfennig

Pfennig

The Pfennig , plural Pfennige, is an old German coin or note, which existed from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002....

.

Between 1807 and 1813, the Westphalian Thaler

Westphalian thaler

The Thaler was a currency of the Kingdom of Westphalia between 1807 and 1813. From 1808, it circulated alongside the Frank. The Thaler was equal to those of the preceding states, including the Hannovarian Thaler. It was subdivided into 36 Mariengroschen, each of 8 Pfennig....

 (equal to the Hannovarian Thaler) and the Westphalian Frank

Westphalian frank

The Frank was a currency of the Kingdom of Westphalia between 1808 and 1813. It circulated alongside the Thaler, was equal to the French franc and was subdivided into 100 Centimen.See "Standard Catalog of World Coins" by Krause and Mishler....

 circulated in Hannover.

In 1834, the Thaler was slightly reduced in silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

 content to make it equal to the Prussian Thaler

Prussian thaler

The Thaler was the currency of Prussia until 1857. From 1750, it was distinct from north German Reichsthaler unit of account in that it contained 1/14 of a Cologne mark of silver, rather than 1/12, and was minted as a coin...

. The Thaler was replaced at par in 1857 by the Hannovarian Vereinsthaler

Hannovarian vereinsthaler

The Vereinsthaler was the currency of the Kingdom of Hanover between 1857 and 1866. The Vereinsthaler replaced the prior Thaler at par. The Vereinsthaler was first subdivided into 24 Groschen, each of 12 Pfennig, thus 288 Pfennig = 1 Vereinsthaler...

.