TCV Roundtable Blog

100 Greatest Women On Coins Series: Empress Maria Theresa of Austria

A powerful woman from the 1700s is the main character in our blog series today covering Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest Women on Coins Series. Author Ron Guth guides us through her early life, her rule, and her lasting impact on silver coinage that we see today.

#34 – Empress Maria Theresa of Austria

Born Archduchess Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina in May 1717, she was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI and Elisabeth Christine of the German duchy of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel. Although the daughter of a Holy Roman Emperor, she was barred from becoming a Holy Roman Empress because she was a woman. She married in 1736 to Francis Stephen of Lorraine and had 16 children in 20 years and was able to become a Holy Roman Empress because of her marriage.

Maria and Francis I had several children that would go on to be powerful beings...read more