A "RELIC" IDENTIFIED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17838, 21 January 1920, Page 9

A "RELIC" IDENTIFIED

AN INTERESTING COIN. j A gentleman -whose knowledge as a tumismatist qualifies him to pronounce on the matter, supplies us with the following interesting explanation in respect to the supposed medal—in reality a coin—presented to a British soldier by a Bavarian colonel, under circumstances described in a recent issue of tho Daily Times, with certain speculations as to its origin and significance. He writes:— Tho facts regarding "A supposed Jacobite relic," described in your paper of tho 10th inst., are —viz.The medal is a so-called Maria Theresia taler (dollar) or Levantine taler. The inscription of the taler reads: M THERESIA J).G.R.IMP.HU^BO.REG. Maria Theresia Dei Gratia Romanorum Imperatrix, Hungaria, Bohemia, Begins. (Maria Theresia By the Grace of God Empress of the Romans, Hungary, Bohemia, Queen.) Bust of the Empress in ermine mantle to the right. ABOHn>.ATJST.DUS.BTJEG.c6.TYIt.I7BOX Arehidux, Austria, Dux Burgundii, Comes Tyrol 1780. (Archduke Austria, Duke Burgundy, Count Tyrol 1780.) Bound Double Eagle with shield and crown Rim. JUSTITIA ET OLEMENTIA. (Justioe .and olemency.) Until 1866 tfosso_ toilers were coined by the Imperial Austrian Mint in Venice, and after the union of Venice with Italy in 1866 they were continued to be coined by tho Austrian Mirtt in Vienna. These coins were not permitted to circulate in Austria. They were -used exclusively for the Austrian trade with the Levante or East, and were therefore also called Levantine taler. They were the trading coin for the Balkans, North and East Africa, the Sudan, Arabia, and Asia Minor, and are said to be used there until recently from NorthEast Africa to the Equator. They were coined in the Inst year of the reign of the great Empress Maria Theresia. who reigned from 1740 to 1780, and her fame as born ruler, administrator, and roal head of her family spread all _ over the Eaet. Besides these eminent qualifications shrahadaoharminp personality, was a nice looking woman, a loving mother, and her pride were her 16 children. ■ Was it to bo wondered at that the stories of suoh a groat Indv should find a ready jn tho mind of the Orientals, already bo conversant with the Arabian Nights stories, and that the dollars with the bust, of the Great Empress breame the exclusive trading coin in tlw East—but they ha<l to be of the year 1780. Thoir uso was not confined to thatof a means of exchange. They became the favourito ornament for the womm and were worn as amulet, talisman, and fetish. As long as the demand lasted—until the n->fiond half of the last oentury—they were coined by the Imperial Austrian Mint. Consequently they a,re no rarities, amd have not much value above thfir weight in silver, but, on _ account of the above-men-tioned _ interesting associations, a Maria Theresia taler in a good state of preservation always deswves a place in any coin collection. It hns absolutelv no connection with the " Stuart family."