Background/Story
This button is made from a 1776 silver 30 Kreuzers coin. The coin’s reverse, with crowned arms, griffon supporters, and the value 30 KR, is the decorative face, while a metal shank was soldered to the portrait side to turn it into a button. Latin letters “ARCHID. AUS. DUX. OSW. ZAT,” identifies Maria Theresa as Archduchess of Austria and Duchess of Oświęcim and Zator — titles that place this coin in the turbulent mapmaking of 18th-century Europe
Numista website identifies the initial IC as Johann August von Cronberg, mint master at the Austrian Mint, and FA as Franz Ignatz Aycherau, mint warden. (https://en.numista.com/86633)
