A shooting thaler (/ˈtɑːlər/ TAH-lər; German: Schützentaler; French: Écu de tir) is a silver coin in thaler size minted to commemorate a Schützenfest (French: Fête de tir) or free shooting (German: Freischiessen, French: Tir libre) in Switzerland.
In a narrow sense, Swiss Schützentaler are the silver coins equal in size and weight to the Swiss 5 francs coin minted on the occasion of one of the Eidgenössische Schützenfeste, or federal shooting festivals. Two such coins were issued by the cantonal mints of Graubünden (1842, denominated at 4 Swiss francs[2]), and Glarus (1847, denominated at 40 Batzen) prior to the establishment of the Federal Mint. Sometimes included as "shooting thaler" is a double thaler (10 francs) coin minted by Geneva and donated as cash prizes to the 1851 festival.
The Federal Mint has issued fifteen such coins with the nominal value of five francs, between 1855 and 1885. These coins were not intended as legal tender, even though they were issued by the federal mint with a nominal face value. Because they were minted to the official specifications of the 5 francs coin, they were nevertheless circulated de facto.[3] After 1885, the federal mint was dissuaded from minting these semi-official coins on the part of the Latin Monetary Union. After the demise of the Monetary Union, the Swiss federal mint issued two further Schützentaler, in 1934 and 1939, for a total of twenty distinct Schützentaler (3 cantonal, 17 federal). Of the 22 cantons of the Swiss Confederation, 18 are represented in these coins, the exceptions being Uri, Appenzell, Aargau and Valais.[4]
Most of the designs in the series depict strongly patriotic themes, frequently depicting the federal personification Helvetia alongside a cantonal or city personification, in some cases alluding to specific historical events. The entire series can be distinguished from the much more varied genre of shooting medals (Schützenmedaillen) by their adherence to the specifications of circulating coinage (with the exception of the three cantonal specimens, the Swiss 5 francs coin). All but the Stans (1861) and St. Gallen (1874) issues are denominated.
The term Schützentaler has been revived for commercially produced commemorative coins of thaler size offered on the collector's market since the 1980s.
- ^ Ferdinand Korn (1825 - ca. 1870), originally of Mainz, acted as chief engraver at the federal mint from 1855, as director in 1858/9. After a dispute with Bovy, he moved back to Germany, as master of the mint for the Duke of Nassau at Wiesbaden.
- ^ prior to the introduction of the federal Swiss franc in 1850, "Swiss franc" was the name given to cantonal silver coins of one livre tournois.
- ^ Swissmint FAQ, p. 9, citing Revue Suisse de Numismatique, 1894, p. 56.
- ^ Zürich (1859, 1872) and Bern (1857, 1885) are represented twice; Unterwalden is represented with Stans (Nidwalden). Cantons represented by cities other than their capitals are Ticino (with Lugano) and Neuchâtel (with La Chaux-de-Fonds). The festival in Aarau (Aargau) of 1849 was held just before the federal mint became operative and again in 1924, when it had ceased to issue shooting thalers. Festivals in Lucerne were held in 1832 and 1901, with a federal issue Schützentaler minted only for the third event in 1939. The small cantons of Uri and Appenzell have never hosted a federal festival, the canton of Valais for the first time only in 2015.