Maria Theresan.
/məˌrɪə təˈreɪzə/, U.S. /məˈriə təˈreɪsə/ A large silver thaler originally issued to commemorate the death of Maria Theresa and subsequently restruck, with the date and design unchanged, at various world mints continuously down to the present day. Chiefly attributive, esp. in Maria Theresa dollar (also Maria Theresa thaler) [after German Mariatheresientaler] .The original coin was minted in 1780 at the Gunzburg (Burgau) Mint. Later restrikes were made at various mints (Vienna, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, etc.) for use as trade coins. It survived until the 1960s as a medium of exchange in parts of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia) and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman). The thalers are still made as gift pieces by the Vienna Mint.
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society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > foreign coins > [noun] > Austrian coins
kreutzera1549
schilling1753
zwanziger1828
Maria Theresa1863
krone1893
korona1899
groschen1978
1788 Catal. Coll. Antient & Mod. Coins & Medals 4 Dec. 4 A dollar of Rudolphus 1, Francis 1, Maria Theresia 2, and a ruble of the Empress Elizabeth.]
1863 L. C. Martin & C. Trübner Current Gold & Silver Coins of all Countries 2 Maria Theresia Thaler, or the so-called Levant Thaler, 1780... This Coin, with the above year's date, is issued still by the Austrian Government for the Levant trade.
1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 292/1 In Abyssinia since 1893 there has been a silver coinage formed on the basis of the Austrian Maria Theresa dollar.
1929 H. Miles tr. P. Morand Black Magic ii. 109 What the propaganda factories of the U.R.S.S. had not yet been able to compass, in spite of all their millions of dollars, rupees, lei, pesos and Maria Theresa crowns.
1965 J. A. Michener Source (1966) 731 If you can somehow get together baksheesh in the amount of six hundred Maria Theresas you'll be allowed to buy the Kaimakam's office in Tubariyeh.
1988 E. Hoagland in Balancing Acts (1992) 236 Having received our change in Maria Theresa thalers, and having purposely finished exploring Sadʽah beforehand, straightaway we left town.
1997 J. Williams Money iv. 107 With the increasing effects of colonialism in the twentieth century, Islamic coins became hybrid... In southern Arabia and the Gulf, along with the popular trade coin the Maria Theresa thaler, coins based on East India Company issues were used.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1863