Holy Roman Empire, Archbishopric Salzburg, Sigismund III of Schrattenbach, Taler 1763

This taler shows a wonderful portrait of Salzburg's Archbishop Sigismund III of Schrattenbach (1753-1771). Sigismund's reign was ill fated. On the one hand the archbishop distinguished himself through an extraordinary piousness, thus arousing the suspicion of those who already leaned towards the awakening Enlightenment. On the other hand, Salzburg experienced serious financial losses at that time through an unfortunate investment of capital abroad. The archbishops had put capital on an interest-bearing account of the Viennese City Bank. However, when Austria and with it the Viennese City Bank went bankrupt in 1811, those investments dissolved into nothing.