Species taler
Species taler
Species taler currency from Christian IV
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The species taler was
accepted in many parts of Europe. This large silver coin, which was intended
to be equal in value with the Rhineland gold gulden, was first minted in
Tirol in 1486. But the real breakthrough came with the silver gulden minted
in Joachimsthal, Bohemia in 1519, which became the foremost model. The
Joachimtaler, which was soon to be referred to simply as the "taler", was
copied all over Europe. In Danish it was called "daler". Before the taler
was produced regularly and in significant quantities locally, talers of
Austrian, German and Dutch origin were widely used in Denmark-Norway, as
both written records and coin-finds bear witness to.
In 1544, the riksdaler species was made the basis for
the monetary system in Denmark-Norway. The first Norwegian taler was minted
in Gimsøy monastery by Skien,
southern Norway, in 1546 (the Gimsøy taler). The silver content
of the species taler remained relatively stable until the Riksbank taler
was introduced in 1813.
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