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The Maria Theresa Thaler is a silver bullion trade coin that has been used in world trade continuously since it was first minted in 1741. It was named after Empress Maria Theresa, who ruled Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia from 1740 to 1780.

It proudly sits in my small coin collection as one of the most interesting and certainly the most beautiful.

Between 1751 and 2000, some 389 million were minted and all are dated 1780.
The Thaler came to be used as currency in large parts of Africa until after the Second World War. It was common from North Africa to Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and down the coast of Tanzania to Mozambique. It could also be found throughout the Arab world, especially in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Muscat and Oman, and in India.
It was one of the first coins in use in the USA and probably contributed, along with the Spanish dollar, to the choice of a dollar as the main unit of currency for the United States.
The coin has been minted in many countries. In Great Britain at the Birmingham and London mints also in Bombay, Brussels, Paris, Rome, and Utrecht.
The Vienna mint has produced over 49 million of the coins.
The total minted probably exceeds 800 million.