(sold for $177.0)

1644, Emperor Ferdinand III. Beautiful Silver Thaler Coin. Graz mint! XF-AU!

Mint Year: 1644
Denomination: Thaler
Mint Place: Graz (Styria, Austria)
Reference: Davenport 3189, Herinek 25, KM-432.2. RR!
Condition: Struck on a planchet with a mint-clip (the planchet diameter was within the diameter of an already cut out piece, which resulted in a small round gap), a cud (metal excess) at 3 o'clock, minor scratch in right obverse field, very light deposits in reverse, otherwise a nice XF-AU!
Weight: 29.53gm
Diameter: 44mm
Material: Silver

Obverse: Laureate, draped and armored bust of Emperor Ferdinand II right. Monster-face inside shoulder drapery.
Legend:FERDINANDVS · III : D : G : ROM : IMP : S : A : G : H : BO : REX

Reverse: Crowned garnished coat-of-arms within baroque foliage, surmounted by Order of the Golden Fleece (Toison d'or).
Legend: · ARCHI · AVST · DVX · · BVRG · STYRIÆ · Ec (cross fleurée stops)

Graz is the second-largest city in Austria after Vienna and the capital of the federal state of Styria. In the 14th century Graz became the city of residence of the Inner Austrian line of the Habsburgs. The royalty lived in the Schloßberg castle and from there ruled Styria, Carinthia, and parts of today's Italy and Slovenia (Carniola, Gorizia and Gradisca). In the 16th century, the city's design and planning were primarily controlled by Italian Renaissance architects and artists. One of the most famous buildings built in this style is the Landhaus. It was designed by Domenico dell'Allio, and was used by the local rulers as a governmental headquarters. Graz was also a city that famous astronomer Johannes Kepler lived in for a short part of his life. There, he worked as a math teacher, but found time to study astronomy. He left Graz to go to Prague when Lutheran people were banned from the city. Karl-Franzens Universität, also referred to as the University of Graz, is the city's oldest university, founded in 1585 by Archduke Charles II.

Ferdinand III (July 13, 1608 - April 2, 1657) was Holy Roman Emperor February 15, 1637 - 1657. King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, King of the Romans.

Eldest son of Emperor Ferdinand II from the house of Habsburg and his first wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria. Made King of Hungary in 1625, King of Bohemia in 1627, Archduke of Austria in 1621 and succeeded his father King of the Romans in 1636, and thence Holy Roman Emperor 1637.

Following the death of Wallenstein in 1634, he was made titular head of the Imperial Army in the Thirty Years' War, and later that year joined with his cousin the Cardinal-Infante to defeat the Swedes at Noerdlingen. Leader of the peace party at court, he helped negotiate the Peace of Prague with the Protestant States, especially Saxony in 1635.

He succeeded his father as Holy Roman Emperor in 1637. He hoped to be able to make peace soon with France and Sweden, but the war dragged on for another 11 years, finally coming to an end with the Peace of Westphalia (Treaty of Münster with France, Treaty of Osnabrück with Sweden) in 1648, both negotiated by his envoy Maximilian von und zu Trauttmansdorff, a successful diplomat who had been made a count in 1623 by his father Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.

During the last dreadful period of the war, in 1644 Ferdinand III gave to all rulers of German states the right to conduct their own foreign policy (ius belli ac pacis). This way the emperor was trying to gain more allies in the negotiations with France and Sweden. This very edict contributed to the gradual erosion of the imperial authority in the Holy Roman Empire.

In the Peace of Westphalia, his full titles are given as: "Ferdinand the Third, elected Roman Emperor, always August, King of Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Margrave of Moravia, Duke of Luxemburg, of the Higher and Lower Silesia, of Wurtemburg and Teck, Prince of Swabia, Count of Habsburg, Tyrol, Kyburg and Goritia, Marquess of the Sacred Roman Empire, Burgovia, the Higher and Lower Lusace, Lord of the Marquisate of Slavonia, of Port Naon and Salines."