Karen F. asks: The following words are located on the reverse, obverse and around the edge itself of a coin or medallion with what appears to be a mint date of 1780, and a mark of S F. Can you translate these words and tell me what language they come from? “archid” “avst” “dux” “burg” “co” “tyr”.”r” “imp” “hu” “bo” “reg” “m” “theresiad” “g” “clementia” “iustitia”
You have a Maria Theresa Thaler, an Austrian Trade coin that is still in production, though in Turkey, not Austria. You have the legend a bit backward. It begins with: M. THERESA (Maria Theresa) D. G. (Deus Gratia or by the grace of G-d) R. IMP.HU.BO. REG (Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary and Bohemia) (on edge) CLEMENTIA IUSTITIA (with mercy and justice).
On the other side the legend continues with additional titles ARCHID. AVG. DUX (Most August Arch-Duchess) BURG. CO. TYR (of Burgundy, Countess of Tyrol).
Latin was the International language up until the late 19th century and most coins used Latin, albeit abbreviated, to list the titles of monarchs and the countries that they ruled. As you can see they were very clever in getting all that on one coin.
