Aargau Thaler

The Aargau Thaler's obverse typically featured a rampant lion from the canton's coat of arms, a design that echoed the broader thaler tradition while asserting local identity.

This silver coin, struck in Aargau between 1700 and 1798, used planchets weighing around 25 to 30 grams, often sourced from melted foreign silver like Spanish pieces of eight. Variations in die quality reflected the canton's makeshift minting operations, which relied on local silversmiths rather than centralized facilities. Some years saw crude edges, hinting at rushed production amid trade demands.

Exact mintage figures remain elusive; records from that era were spotty, and many likely burned in later fires. Still, surviving examples show wear patterns suggesting heavy circulation in the Alps.

Counterfeits were common, as with most thalers of the time. You might say they were the eighteenth-century equivalent of bad investments.