Kingdom Of Poland Coins By Century (963 - 1586)

Nice. Where are you finding all these super coins?

I've been collecting older Polish coins for about 20 years, echizento. Though I must admit that CCF has inspired me to grow it more this year than it has grown for a long time. The 16th c. coins are plentiful, and not extremely expensive (though I know that "expensive" is always relative). They can be found at Polish auctions (WCN, Marciniak, Niemczyk and others), Kunker, WAG, Emporium Hamburg. IN the past I also bought from Karl Stephens.



Thanks for the research! As you say, the median sale price for a Vilnius groat of Zygmunt I at WCN for the last two years is 900PLN, or $250. By comparison, that is more than double the price for any other coin I have posted in the last week. So, as you say, they are not rare, but they are valuable.
I would like to have an Elbing trojak of Zygmunt I in my collection, which will also cost me at least this amount of money. And if I want a Torun Trojak of Zygmunt I, I will be lucky to find a one in VF for $500.

(BTW, I am using the Polish Zygmunt rather than the Germanic Sigismund because (a) we are dealing with Polish coins, and (b) this was the name of my grandfather!)

Yes, there's Lithuanian half-groat 1557, 4SA68-16 in Ivanauskas catalogue, without rarity. Engraver Martin Wartemberg. More interesting and rare 1557 half-groats of engraver Jorge Behm, f.e. https://wcn.pl/archive/167716?q=1557+wilno .

1511 Lithuania/Poland.
1/2 Groat.
Segismund I - The old (1506/1548)

Thanks for the contribution of two nice "eagle and knight" type half groats, dorado. I think that 1511 is one of the earlier dates of that type from the Vilnius mint (the type started in 1508).

I'll move up the denomination ladder to this grosz/groat of Zygmunt August issued in Vilnius for use in Poland, dated 1547. Kopicki 3281, Gum. 610. The symbols below the date, reverse, are the king's monogram, SA, which figures more prominently on some other coins of his reign, and to the right, a symbol used by the Jagiello kings.

Lithuanian half-groat 1511- 39C in our book http://goccf.com/t/282866
Lithuanian groat 1547- 5SA7-4 by Ivanauskas.

Appologies for not posting these last week, but here are a few coins from the Polish-controlled German Duchy of Prussia. First is a Solidus dated 1529 AD that it attributed as Kopicki 3077. The second is a Groschen dated 1535 AD that is attributed as Kopicki 3091. The third is a 3 Groszy dated 1539 AD that is attributed as Kopicki 3803.

As mentioned upthread, since the founding of the Jagiello dynasty of monarchs in the 1380s, Poland and Lithuania were governed jointly by a single monarch who served as king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania. In 1569 this arrangement was formalized into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by Zygmunt II August in the Union of Lublin. Equally important, this treaty created an elected monarchy. Future monarchs would be elected by the Sejm, the combined parliament of the Commonwealth populated by nobility roughly in the ratio of 3:1 Polish to Lithuanian.
When Zygmuint II died in 1572 without a living brother or child, Henry Valois of France was nominated, then elected king of Poland in May 1573, also with the hope (or promise) that he would wed Anna Jagiello, younger sister of Zygmunt. Henry was crowned in early 1574, but less than 6 months later, his brother Charles IX of France died, leaving the French throne to Henry, who left Poland (and jilted Anna). The parliament of the Commonwealth notified Henry that unless he returned by May 1575, the throne would be considered vacated, which is what came to pass.
Anna began to press her case to be elected Queen, but since there was no provision for a woman to be elected alone, marriage to Stefan Batory of Hungary was proposed, they were jointly elected King and Queen at the end of 1575, and married in mid-1576 (first time a bride at age 52!)

From a numismatic viewpoint...
- The last silver coins issued in the name of Zygmunt II are dated 1569 (there was a gold ducat dated 1571).
- During the 1572-73 interregnum, there were denars and schillings minted in Gdansk/Danzig dated 1573.
- In 1574-76 no coins were struck in Poland/Lithuania as far as I can tell. However, French coins minted under the reign of Henry III bear the legend HENRICUS III D G FRAN ET POLO REX (Henry, by the grace of God, King of France and Poland). So collectors of Polish coins often include a coin of Henry since he was on the Polish throne in title if not in person, in 1575.
- Stefan Batory did not issue coins before 1578. However, the burghers of Gdansk rebelled at his election, and there is siege coinage of Gdansk/Danzig dated 1577.

In short, the 1570s is a tough decade for Poland collectors. There is small interregnum silver dated 1573. French coins dated 1575 in the name of Henry III as king of Poland. Gdansk/Danzig siege coinage of 1577, and finally starting in 1578 a broad range of denominations in the name of Stefan Batory.

So, here is my Henry III coin, a 1575 teston: