A shooting thaler ( ; ; ) 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 francsprior to the introduction of the federal Swiss franc in 1850, "Swiss franc" was the name given to cantonal silver coins of one livre tournois.), 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.Swissmint FAQ, p. 9, citing Revue Suisse de Numismatique, 1894, p. 56. 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.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.
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.
History The first shooting medals were struck in honor of the Officers' Shoot held in Langenthal, Bern, in 1822.Krause, p. 11Krause, p. 10 Shooting medals continued to be made in great numbers, minted in a variety of metals, including silver, bronze, gold and white metal.
The first shooting thalers were cantonal pieces, minted in the 1840s by Grisons and Glarus as sovereign cantons of the Restored Confederacy. These two thalers were strictly legal tender, issued under the same conditions as other circulating coins of the period.F. Haas, Eine Streitfrage: Sind die eidgenössischen Schützenfestthaler mit der Werthbezeichnung 4 Franken (alte) und 5 Franken in eine Verkehrs-Münzensammlung aufzunehmen oder nicht? ("A controversial question: should the federal shooting festival thalers with denomination 4 francs (old) and 5 francs be included in a collection of circulating coins or should they not?"), Revue numismatique de suisse 3 (1893), 354f.
For the 1851 festival, Geneva, already as a canton of the Swiss Confederation but before the federal mint had become fully operational, issued a 10 francs piece. This is sometimes included as a "shooting thaler", even though the shooting festival is in no way alluded to in the coin design. The Geneva issue of 1851, with a mintage of only 1,000 pieces, is the rarest of the shooting thalers, and has consequently attained the highest collector's value, selling for upward of CHF 1,500.
All nineteenth-century federal shooting thaler issues were minted to legal fineness, and were given the denomination of five francs.Bruce, p. 455 But from 1865, Switzerland was a member of the Latin Monetary Union,Kenen, Peter B. & Meade, Ellen E. (2008). Regional Monetary Integration Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. and since the shooting thalers were not included in the mintages authorized by the Union, they are considered semi-medallic, and not technically legal tender even though they did circulate de facto, and their circulation was tolerated by the federal authorities. The classification of the federally issued shooting thalers as circulating currency was discussed controversially in the late 19th century. Haas (1893) argues for their recognition as such. He cites the fact that for three decades, these coins were circulated de facto without intervention on the part of the federal authority. In addition, the 1855 thaler was minted as a regular 5 francs coin with the only exception of the shooting festival being mentioned in the inscription on the coin's edge.
The last thaler of this series is the 1885 Bern issue. After this time, Switzerland was dissuaded from further issuing these semi-official coins by the Latin Monetary Union.
Although the term Schützentaler is mostly reserved for the Swiss tradition, some German mints in the 19th century have also issued commemorative coins for Schützenfeste. Examples include the German States of Baden,Krause & Mishler, p. 355 Bremen,Krause & Mishler, p. 373 Frankfurt am MainKrause & Mishler, p. 383 and Hanover,Bruce, p. 155
In 1927, the Monetary Union ceased to exist. Mintage began on a new series of shooting thalers in 1934 in honor of the shooting festival in Fribourg, and another design was issued in 1939 for the Lucerne festival. The 1934 issue was the last official shooting thaler that matched the circulating counterpart in both diameter and weight. The 1939 issues were not the same size and weight as their circulating counterparts, but both issues were redeemable only at the shooting festival or participating businesses. The federal festival, and with it the production of shooting thalers, was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II.
For the federal festivals of 1949 to 1977, commemorative coins were made but not to official specifications. With the rising popularity of collecting commemorative coins in the 1980s, fine silver coins dubbed Schützentaler have been privately issued for cantonal and federal festivals.
Cantonal issues
Chur (1842)
Year: 1842 Location: Chur Denomination: 4 francs Designer(s): Karl Friedrich Voigt Diameter: Coinage metal: Silver Mintage: 6,000of the original mintage of 6,000, 1,744 pieces were retired and melted down by the federal mint in 1852. Bericht des Bundesrathes über die Münzeinlösung, cited after Haas (1893). Notes: 1,744 pieces melted in 1852, for an upper limit of 4,256 surviving pieces. White metal and zinc pieces are known to have been struck. The zinc pieces were allegedly fixed in the center of a target during the shooting festival. If hit, the shooter would be given a larger award.Richter, p. 161 +Chur specificationsDetailsTranslationObverseEIDGENÖSSISCHES FREISCHIESSEN IN CHUR – 1842Federal Free Shoot in Chur – 1842ReverseCANTON GRAUBÜNDEN – 4 SCHWEIZER FRANKENCanton of Graubünden – 4 Swiss francsEdgeEINTRACHT MACHT STARKHarmony is strength
Glarus (1847)
Year: 1847 Location: Glarus Denomination: 40 batzen Designer(s): S. Burger, Karl Friedrich Voigt Diameter: Coinage metal: Silver Mintage: 3,200of the original mintage of 3,200, 1,023 pieces were retired and melted down by the federal mint in 1852. Bericht des Bundesrathes über die Münzeinlösung, cited after Haas (1893). Notes: 1,023 pieces melted in 1852, for an upper limit of 2,177 surviving pieces. White metal and zinc pieces are known to have been struck. The zinc pieces were allegedly fixed in the center of a target during the shooting festival. If hit, the shooter would be given a larger award.Richter, p. 156 +Glarus specificationsDetailsTranslationObverseEIDGENÖSSISCHES FREYSCHIESSEN IN GLARUS – 1847Federal Free Shoot in Glarus – 1847Reverse40 Btz.40 batzenEdgeEINTRACHT MACHT STARKHarmony is strength
Geneva (1851)
Year: 1851 Location: Geneva Denomination: 10 francs Designer(s): Antoine BovyMedalist Antoine Bovy (1795–1877) of Geneva, French citizenship 1835, employed by the federal mint for the Swiss franc coins in 1850/51 and 1873/4. Diameter: Coinage metal: Silver Mintage: 1,000Richter, p. 113 Notes: These coins are not technically "shooting thalers", as the shooting festival is in no way mentioned or alluded to in the design. They are, rather, a batch of 1,000 double thaler (10 francs, 52 grams) coins minted by the canton of Geneva specifically as cash prizes that could be won at the festival.Bulletin de l'Institut national genevois 22 (1877), 115.At a mintage of 1,000 pieces, this coin is today traded for upward of CHF 1,500: Auctioned for CHF 1,600 in 2018 (Sincona Auction 47 - Part 2, Lot 3378); schweizer-geld.ch: CHF 1750 for "fine" condition, CHF 2500 for "very fine" condition (as of 2020). +Geneva specificationsDetailsTranslationObversePOST – TENEBRAS – LUXLight after darknessReverseREPUBLIC ET CANTON DE GENEVE – 10 FRANCS 1851Republic and Canton of Geneva – 10 francs 1851EdgeNoneNone
Federal issues (1855–1885) Solothurn (1855)
Year: 1855 Location: Solothurn Denomination: 5 francs Designers: Friedrich Fisch, S. Burger, Karl Friedrich Voigt Diameter: Coinage metal: Silver Mintage: 3,000Richter, p. 209 Design: Obv.: Seated figure of Helvetia, holding shield with the federal coat of arms, pointing left, with mountains and ears of corn, HELVETIA 5 Fr. 1855, wreath of oak leaves and gentian Edge: EIDGEN. FREISCHIESEN SOLOTHURN 1855 Notes: The design is identical to the regular federal 5 franc issues in use at the time, except for the inscription on the edge. Imitations (made from genuine 5 francs coins of 1850) were reported as early as 1890.Bulletin de la Societè Suisse de Numismatique 9 (1890), p. 29.
Bern (1857)
Year: 1857 Location: Bern Denomination: 5 francs Designer(s): Ferdinand Korn Diameter: Coinage metal: Silver Mintage: 5,191Richter, p. 60; Münzgeschichte der Schweiz 35 (1896), p. 33. Design: Obv.: Standing figure of a soldier with musket, EHRE IST MEIN HOECHSTES ZIEL. ("Honour is my highest aim"), signature KORN. Rev.: Two crossing rifles, Swiss cross in splendour in a wreath, 5 FRANKEN, EIDGENÖSSISCHES FREISCHIESSEN IN BERN 1857. Notes: Examples are known to have been struck in white metal. The only known "Class II" specimen of the 1804 dollar, now in the National Numismatic Collection, was struck over an 1857 shooting thaler.
Zürich (1859)
Year: 1859 Location: Zürich Denomination: 5 francs Designer(s): Ferdinand Korn Diameter: Coinage metal: Silver Mintage: 6,000Richter, p. 299 Design: Obv.: Standing figure of a soldier with rifle, EIDGENÖSSISCHES FREISCHIESSEN, 1859, signature KORN Rev.: Two cantonal coats of arms under a federal coat of arms, supported by two lions. ZÜRICH, 5 FRANKEN.
Nidwalden (1861)
Year: 1861 Location: Stans, Nidwalden Denomination: 5 francs Designer(s): Antoine Bovy, Ferdinand Schlöth Diameter: Coinage metal: Silver Mintage: 6,000Richter, p. 193 Design: