NEW BOOK: SWISS SHOOTING THALERS AND MEDALS, 2ND

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V21 2018 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 21, Number 21, May 27, 2018, Article 6

The May 24, 2018 issue of CoinsWeekly has an article by editor Ursula Kampmann reviewing a new edition of a book on Swiss shooting thalers and medals (linked below). Here's a rough translation of the information from the publisher's web site. -Editor

Die Schützentaler und Schützenmedaillen der Schweiz book cover

2nd edition 2018
564 pages, 23.5 x 28 cm, full color illustrations, hardcover
ISBN: 978-3-86646-162-8
Price: 85,00 EUR

This book, which has also been translated into English, deals with the history as well as the historical background of the shooting thalers and medals of Switzerland. More than 2,500 talers and medals from their beginnings in the early seventeenth century to the year 1960 were listed in detail and mostly reproduced.

From engraved single productions to medals with a circulation of several thousand copies, all pieces were supplemented with a rarity indication as well as two evaluations for the preservations "vz-unz / AU53" as well as "FDC / MS64". As a novelty for the first time in the more frequent pieces also a market availability was determined, which should enable the collector to estimate how often or how rare a corresponding medal really is today.

Three different index categories, chronologically by age, alphabetically by location, and also alphabetically by inscriptions, allow the collector to efficiently identify virtually any medal and look up it in the catalog. The current second edition has been substantially expanded, especially as regards information on individual medals. Several hundred newly discovered specimens were recorded, described and evaluated.

As far as the valuations are concerned, they have been revised from scratch and adapted to current market conditions. Thus, this book becomes an indispensable reference work when it comes to the determination and evaluation of shooting thalers and medals in Switzerland.

To read the CoinsWeekly article, see:
Swiss shooting thalers and medals (http://www.coinsweekly.com/en/News/Swiss-shooting-thalers-and-medals/4?&id=5383)

For those wondering just what a "shooting thaler" is, there's a good article by BJ Searls on the PCGS web site; here's an excerpt. -Editor

The federal state of Switzerland is divided into Swiss cantons, or member states. In the 1800s and early 1900s, these cantons held Shooting Festivals, or "free shoots" tournaments. Originally, these festivals were fundraisers to aid the widows and orphans of the soldiers who had fallen in defense of their country. Shooting halls were erected and prizes were awarded to the sharp shooters.

Although the purpose has changed, the shooting contests continue to this day, now regulated by the federal government. The Swiss are avid supporters of the right to carry arms. Because they do not have an army, they depend on the citizenry for national defense. Recreational shooting is popular, in fact so much so, that the annual Feldschiessen weekend, the largest rifle shooting competition in the world, sees 200,000 in attendance every year. While a large percentage of households contain guns, the murder rate in Switzerland is one of the lowest in the world.

With each shooting festival, a commemorative medal was minted. For the collector, there are two distinct periods to consider when collecting Shooting Festival commemoratives. The first run is from 1842 to 1939. These coins are commonly called Shooting Thalers, and for the most part, are the equivalent in size and metal content to their legal tender counterpart. As such, these coins were circulated outside the festivals, although technically, they are medals. The second period, the modern commemoratives, runs from 1984 to date. These coins are not considered legal tender and were meant to be exchanged only during the festival.

To read the complete article, see:
Swiss Shooting Thalers (https://www.pcgs.com/news/Swiss-Shooting-Thalers)