A Special Collection of Transylvanian Thalers

COINAGE OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF TRANSYLVANIA

The principality of Transylvania consisted of Transylvania and the eastern region of Hungary, and was established after the kingdom of Hungary was divided into three separate states. Minting of a sovereign coinage soon began, during the reign of king John (Sigismund) II, in 1556. As the principality was rich in mines of precious metals, higher value coins like gold ducats and silver thalers predominated. Some princes did not issue coins of smaller denominations at all, and the need for lower value coinage was met by the use of imported Hungarian and Polish coins.  The striking of thalers was initiated in the year 1562. The first simple versions, bearing only an obverse design, are usually described as necessity thalers. The coins, approximately four centimeters in diameter, were struck from 87.5 per cent fine silver, and weighed an average of 28.5 g. Production of thalers in Transylvania expanded significantly when Prince Sigismund Báthori seized the city of Nagybánya (today Baia Mare, Romania), formerly part of the kingdom of Hungary, the site of the most modern and best equipped mint in the country. Through the nearly century and a half of the existence of the principality of Transylvania, between 1556 and 1690, thirteen princes and two cities (Brassó – today Braşov, Romania, and Szeben – today Sibiu, Romania) issued thalers in a total of eleven mints, creating numerous types and variations. Nowadays the thalers of Transylvania are rare, however, because most went as taxes paid to the Ottoman Empire.  After the death of Michael Apafi, the last Prince of Transylvania, in 1690, the sovereign principality ceased to exist, the Habsburg army occupied the country, and by the year 1691 the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I was in control.

ISTVÁN TÖRŐ’S COLLECTION OF TRANSYLVANIAN THALERS

The collection of thalers of 16th –17th century Transylvania put together by István Törő was bought – among several other artifacts with Hungarian connections – in the summer of 2015, for 1,1 billion forints by the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) through the Értéktár program. The collection is of outstanding value because of its contents, having been assembled by three generations – grandfather, father and son – over several decades, with persistence and great expertise, following a well-defined plan. The collectors intended to make as detailed a collection as possible, including thalers struck from variant dies.  The collection they created became the most significant in existence in the 20th –21th century, containing 220 silver coins (in addition to the 216 coins bought by the MNB, István Törő donated four others to the bank). It consists of 212 thalers, one ¾ thaler, four ½ thalers, one ¼ thaler and two commemorative medals. Thalers of the Principality of Transylvania are usually very rare, and what is more, the collection contains unique and previously unpublished specimens. The coins in the collection are also in extremely fine condition, which increases its value even further. After the auction, the MNB deposited the collection for five years in the Coin Cabinet of the Hungarian National Museum for the purposes of research, exhibition and publication. A detailed catalogue at an academic standard will be published in 2017.