This older group was issued in the same size and metal content as their circulating counterparts, and in some rare cases, some of them did circulate. All of these early issues are business strike coins that exist today in various states of preservation. This group consists of 22 coins, including a silver 40 Batz, a silver 4 Francs, 17 different silver 5 Francs, one silver 10 Francs, and two gold 100 Franc coins. This first series ended in 1939 with the outbreak of World War II.
Modern Shooting Thaler Swiss Coins
The second period consists of silver and gold proof coins issued since 1984. These Shooting Thalers have some great designs that typically feature images of Helvetia, the Swiss version of Lady Liberty who represents Switzerland and its finest ideals, on the reverse. The modern silver issues have a diameter of 37mm, a weight of 25g, and are made of 90% silver.
The silver coins are almost all denominated 50 Francs, while the gold coins were 1,000 Francs until 1994, and have been 500 Franc coins since then. It was due to the efforts of deceased California coin dealer Richard Nelson in the early 1980s that the Shooting Thaler program was revived in 1984 and continues to this day.
Mintages for recent issues have been much lower than they were in the 1980s and 1990s. The lowest mintage for silver was the 2013 silver coin with only 1,000 issues. The gold coins are much lower - 1997, 1998, and 1999 all had mintages under 100 coins each!
Completing a set of the 29 silver proofs issued since 1984 is a do-able, though challenging, goal. PCGS and NGC both have registry sets for that group of coins. Some of these issues have very low populations of Proof 70 examples, as Hayden noted. Because of their popularity, great designs, and low mintages, modern Shooting Thalers have a solid track record of performance in the numismatic marketplace.
Unlike other modern world coin series that started off with a lot of interest, but then saw a decrease in popularity after many different coins were issued, modern Shooting Thaler coins have remained a two-coin per year series. Additionally, mintages have been kept very low, which has helped sustain interest.
Hayden also notes that with all the interest for these coins within Switzerland, relatively few of these coins will make it to the U.S. market. When those factors are coupled with the “small but serious collector base,” he mentioned, there is clearly a bright future for the Shooting Thaler series.
Hayden was recently able to track down another nice group of these pieces from various international sources. This group includes a few of the early issues as well as a nice assortment of modern issues. If you want to try your own hand in collecting these impressive Swiss Shooting Thalers, now is the time to start!
