Variety with a short wreath and with an acorn on a short stalk.
The last thaler with the initials EB Efraim Brenna.
A nice coin in a natural, even patina. Background with preserved mint luster.
Justunek in portrait.
Diameter 41 mm, weight 27.68 g.
During the reign of Stanislaw August, the Warsaw mint minted thalers according to three different minting ordinances. The monetary system introduced in 1766 established the production of 10 thalers from one cologne fine of pure silver (233.8123 g). They had a value of 8 zlotys. They were minted from sterling silver of the 13th 1/3rd cent. They weighed 28.057 g and contained 23.381 g of pure bullion. Similarly, semi-talars also minted from XIII 1/3-arc silver weighed 14.028 g and contained 11.690 g of pure silver. It soon became apparent that the coins issued by the Warsaw mint conforming to this standard were too good. They were pulled from the market en masse and exported abroad, and were punched into much inferior Prussian thalers in terms of silver content. The Polish minting authorities responded in 1787 by lowering the standard of thalers and half-thalers. They were now to be minted from thirteenth-gallon silver, were to weigh 27.570 g (semi-talars - 13.785 g) and contain 22.401 pure silver (semi-talars - 11.200 g). The direction of the reform was correct. However, the depth of the changes proved insufficient. Polish thalers continued to outperform Prussian ones. The procedure described above of pulling them off the market and melting them into inferior coinage was still profitable. The last reform was introduced during the Kosciuszko Uprising. The thalers of 1794 and 1795 were already worth 6 zlotys. They were minted from XI-gold silver, weighed 24.148 grams and contained 16.602 grams of pure silver. The 1794 monetary system no longer included semi-talars. The changes proved to be appropriate. Pulling thalers off the market and punching them into Prussian thalers was no longer profitable. However, the reform proved to be overdue. In 1795, the Polish state ceased to exist. In terms of artistic value, Stanislaw August's thalers are among the most beautiful Polish coins. Their designs were prepared and executed by the most outstanding engravers of the Stanislavski era. From 1766 the engraver of the stamps at the Warsaw mint was Jan Filip Holzhaeusser (d. 1792).
