Post Your Kingdom Of Poland Coins By Monarch 1587 - 1795

Just picked up this Jan Casimir solidus (1664?). Hope its ok if I add it to the thread.

A couple of recent adds for me.
First, this 1588 trojak of Sigismund III from the Riga mint. This is the first year coins were minted during this reign, and it has a younger looking portrait than any of my other coins from this reign. It's been cleaned, but it's tough to find nicer grade Polish coins of this era that aren't either slabbed or cleaned.



Next up, this copper solidus/schilling from the reign of Jan Casimir, which was an ebay purchase listed as 1660. I grabbed it because a couple of things interested me. First, I am not sure the date is 1660, as the 0 in this date is usually large and round. Second, there are several variants in the legends that I could not find in Numista, which has a rather extensive listing of the variants:
- The intials TLB under the bust appear to be (inverted L)TB or (inverted L)(inverted L)B. An inverted L is listed as a known variant for 1660 in Numista, but only in its normal position as the middle letter, not as the first letter.
- The reverse legend appears to read SOLI REGNV( )POLON 166?. I could not find this variant in Numista for 1660 or for any other year (and Numista lists many LEGEND variants for each date). Even SOLI REGNI( )POLON does not appear
- Lastly, the date looks like it could be 1663 or 1665 (16656 was the last year of issue, which rules out 1666 or 1668)?
All of this, plus the messy workmanship on the reverse (skinny eagle, eagle's foot overlapping the O in POLON, etc) leads me to wonder if the coin might even be a contemporary counterfeit.

I agree. A 6 can be ruled out, as this type with the eagle was not minted in 1666.

I think you are correct that 1660 is the most likely of these dates. The obverse appears to be the "large head" type, which is only used 1659-1661. And while there is not an exact match for the reverse legend, I agree that the closest fit is for 1660.
The coin is partially off-planchet where the "rose after date" would be seen. To me, it looks like the eagle's crown extends into this area and there is no rose (as best I can tell, the rose should be nearly the same size as the date numerals from the Numista photos).

Finally, on the TLB initials under the bust, there is a 1665 variant with an inverted T, and a 1661 variant listed as TTB in Numista, so it seems anomalies here are not so unusual.

I am going with:
Obv: IOAN CAS REX (Inverted L)TB
Rev: SOLI R(E)GNV( )POLON 1660, Indistinguishable arms, no rose.

I've sent the same photos to WCN to ask if they think it could be a fake (not sure if they offer this service). The bust doesn't look quite right to me, the eagle doesn't look right, the arms at 6:00 reverse don't look right compared to what I see in Numista, and the workmanship of the reverse lettering is poor compared to other examples I have seen from this mint on-line (here is another 1660 I own):

Very nice copper piece Tdziemia. Given the popularity of these two threads I wonder if you're interested in continuing to coins of the Russian occupation and up to modern (1989?) times.

I'd think many people would enjoy learning about those pieces as well.

I was also hoping to get more feedback on this topic. My experience is also based on my experiences from the USA coin market to which I used to subscribe in the days of my youth.

Mint state Polish coins from the teens, 20's & 30's are cheap, apparently somewhat rare, & historically important being the 1st coins from the new Polish Republic. Contrast this to the US market where a 1917 half dollar is $30,000*. Those few people, like myself who have just a few coins in this era should be interested in learning more?

*PCGS price guide, 1917-s obv, ms65.

Good info!

I have no plans yet, but have family there I haven't seen since 1999.

(Response to @coinshouse is here: http://goccf.com/t/396545)

Since starting this thread, I embarked on a Kingdom of Poland OFEY, 1507-1795. I recently picked up a "last" and a "next-to-last" for this collection.

Here is the "last", the last date in the series, 1795 6 groszy, Warsaw mint. The Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth (as it was known since around 1570) ceased to exist in 1795 when the partitioning of this previous state to Prussia, Russia and Austia-Hungary was completed. The only 1795 coins commonly seen for sale are expensive thalers, and this more modest coin (about the size of a U.S. nickel).



The "next-to-last" is for dates in the 17th century. The target list of dates was:
Sigismund III 1601-1627 (27 years)
Swedish Occupation of Elbing 1628-1635 (8 years)
Jan Casimir 1650-1668 (19 years)
Michael Korybut 1670-73 (4 years)
Jan Sobieski 1677-1685, 1688 (10 years)

With the acquisition of this 1656 szostak, I have only one remaining date in the 1600s.

Good to see you @gallienus!

Yes, I guess "expensive" is a relative term, and the late Stanislaus thalers (1794-95) are the least expensive of any Polish thaler. But in today's crazy market, a problem free VF+ or better starts around $750, up quite a bit from a few years ago I think.

When I decided to aim for an "OFEY" for Poland 1507-1795, I needed to set a maximum budget per coin (with my criteria, the set is about 200 coins). That knocked out any thalers (though getting one is still a goal).