The beginning of Habsburg medal minting and the die cutters at the mint of Hall in Tirol
The oldest medals produced in what is now Austria were created at the mint of Hall in Tyrol and are part of the special exhibition at the Coin Cabinet in Vienna, which opened in February.
The importance of the Hall mint is enormous. Due to the quality of its products and the technical innovations emanating from here, it occupied a leading position among the mints of the Habsburg Empire until the death of Maria Theresa. Its ideal location at the crossroads of European highways contributed to its positioning. Its image grew under Maximilian I (King 1486, Emperor 1508-1519). He favoured this mint and thus aroused the interest and desires of potential clients.
Large silver coins appeared in Hall under the Tyrolean sovereign Sigmund of Austria-Tyrol (1427-1496) from 1483/84 and large silver coins also appeared under Maximilian, his nephew and successor as Tyrolean sovereign. In contrast to the medieval tradition of coins with a small and thin shield, these offered more space for the image, which made it possible to issue high-quality coins that had the character of medals.
Due to the Italian-style portrait, which was the first to be realistically depicted on numismatic objects in the German-speaking world, and the depiction in high relief, a piece by Sigmund - even though it was intended as a model for the large silver coinage - is considered an incunabulum of the Habsburg medal.
The reason for the rise of the Hall mint under Maximilian is to be found in the fact that he spent his life striving to be recognised by his contemporaries. He was concerned about his posthumous fame and the memory of his person. He used all media to achieve this. Coins, which were expensive to produce, were essential for the emperor. If he had remained in the tradition of the late Middle Ages, his coinage would also have been of calculable cost. However, he deliberately chose cost-intensive, prestigious paths and thus stood in contrast to his father, Emperor Friedrich III, whose world view was still characterised by the late Middle Ages and who was hardly receptive to innovation.
Exhibition “Imperial Impressions: The Emperors and their Court Artists” (since 13 February 2024) at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna
