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 Replies: 150 / Views: 11,687 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4186 Posts |
@giedrius and @spence, thanks for two interesting sets of coins as we move forward.
Chronologically first ... the nice date run of Elbing 3 polkers (1632-35) issued under the authority of first Gustavus Adolphus, and then his daughter, Christina of Sweden.
Coins had been minted in Elbing under Polish sovereigns starting with the reign of Casimir Jagiello in the late 1400s.
However, in the latter part of the reign of Sigismund III, war broke out with his nephew, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Gustavus' military prowess enabled first victory over the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth in Livonia (1629), and by the 1630s Gustavus was using ELbing as a headquarters for his war against Brandenburg, where he supported Protestant forces during the 30 years' war. He was killed in battle in 1632 and succeeded by his daughter Christina. So in the first two 3 polkers, we see GUS from 1:00 to 3:00, but in the next two (1534-35) we see CHRI.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9121 Posts |
Longhorn Coins & Exonumia Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4186 Posts |
@paralyse, nice set spanning the Baltic geography discussed in the previous post.
Both Elbing and Konigsberg had been under the Teutonic Knights in medieval times. As Polish power grew and the Knights' lands shrank, Elbing came under Polish authority, but Konigsberg remained Prussian, though they are only 50 miles apart.
Perhaps the last coin is also a 3 polker (rather than a 3 groschen) based on size and design?
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Moderator
United States
18290 Posts |
Similar to the trio of coins recently posted by @giedrius, here is a Lithuanian Schilling dated 1652. I believe that mine is the more common version. The attribution is Kopicki 3581.   "If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb
"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Valued Member
Lithuania
363 Posts |
John II Casimir. Lithuanian schilling 1652. Two coins with mistakes in obverse legend IOA AS instead of IOA CAS. Unpublished.   Edited by giedrius
11/25/2018 1:08 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9121 Posts |
@Tdziemia, you are probably right -- this is not an area of great familiarity for me. Thank you.
Longhorn Coins & Exonumia Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis Edited by paralyse
11/25/2018 5:14 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
9121 Posts |
I will use my original write-up for this one, pardon the duplication. Any errors are my own :) Poland - 1664-AT 30 Groszy (Tymf / Gulden) Bydgoszcz (Bromberg) mint. 6.5 grams, 30-31mm. John II Casimir (Vasa). KM #120. Obv: Crowned monogram ICR. Two line inscription in Latin: DAT(VM) PRETIVM SERVATA SALVS POTIORQ(VE) METALLO EST Rev: Crowned arms, the mintmaster's initials AT on either side, beneath which, the text: XXX GRO POL. Legend and date surrounding the devices: MONET NOV ARG REG POLO 1664. Nominally valued at 30 groszy, the silver was sufficiently debased as to make the actual value closer to 10 groszy. John II Casimir is widely known as the King whose disastrous rule led Poland to economic and diplomatic ruin; the House of Vasa's reign ended with his death. These coins were minted at the end of his reign, at the mint run by Andrzej Tymf (whence the name), with little care towards die engraving, production quality, or anything at all other than making great haste in their striking. Blundered legends and weak/off-center strikes are common. Tymf was later run out of the country for his fraud and misconduct as mintmaster. The Swedish conquest of large areas of Poland and the resulting looting and plunder had nearly, if not completely, bankrupted the Polish royal treasury, and along with the "boratynka" solidi the debasement of the coinage was considered the only means of saving the country from economic ruin. Counterfeiters quickly debased even further the already-debased coins, producing "close enough" copies in billon alloys all the way down to a Roman Imperial-style silvered copper core. The obverse Latin legend explains the King's motivation, a sort of plea to his Polish subjects to accept the newly-debased coins; a very rough translation is something like "The safety of the country is worth more than the metal." Konopczynski notes that the obverse monogram (ICR) was sarcastically and quite aptly punned in Latin as Initium Calamitatis Regni (the beginning of the kingdom's misfortune.)   Longhorn Coins & Exonumia Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4186 Posts |
More nice contributions from this period! Very sharp schilling, @spence, to go with the earlier Jan Casimir schilling varieties posted by giedrius, also some in nice grade. @paralyse, thanks so much for the great history behind that Tympf. I also have one of these, acquired for a really small sum from my LCS 10 or so years ago. As you say, they almost always show up with poor detail, but I never knew the reasons. So, to have another impression of this king, here is an Ort (18 groschen) dated 1650, Fraustadt (Wschowa) mint. Ex Karolkiewicz collection. Kop. 1695, Gum. 1721.   |
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Valued Member
Lithuania
363 Posts |
John II Casimir. Lithuanian schilling 1652 with longer legend IOA CAS D G R POL LIT on obverse   |
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Valued Member
Lithuania
363 Posts |
John II Casimir. Lithuanian schilling 1652 with LITV instead of more common LIT on reverse.   Catalogue of Lithuanian half-groats 1495-1529 http://goccf.com/t/282866 |
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Valued Member
Lithuania
363 Posts |
John II Casimir. Lithuanian schilling 1652 without Gozdawa Coat of Arms below the Knight (Lithuanian Grand Treasurer M.G.Tryzna died at 1652.11.11)   |
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Valued Member
Lithuania
363 Posts |
John II Casimir. Lithuanian schilling 1652 with short legend on obverse IOA CAS R POLL   Catalogue of Lithuanian half-groats 1495-1529 http://goccf.com/t/282866 |
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Valued Member
Lithuania
363 Posts |
John II Casimir. Lithuanian schilling 1652 with mistake SOLIDS instead of SOLIDVS   |
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Valued Member
United States
155 Posts |
Quote:tdziemia http://goccf.com/t/332606&whichpage=3#2846394Here is a Gdansk ort from 1623, slightly different bust than Squire's 1621: What a nice ort! I've bid on some of these but unfortunately in US sales where the prices were very strong and I've have never been able to win one. I do have a few Polish & one Polmeranian thaler. Went to the SD box so as to get some to weigh them but forgot the keys. Also have a pawn shop guy who offered me the use of an XRF (x-ray, flourescent) scanner. Eventually I should be able to get spot tests of surface metal composition. He does sell some common US coins but has little knowledge of foreign.  Siege or Fire Thaler of Thorn, 16th February 1629 (Goldberg's Pre-Longbeach Auction #85, May 31 - June 2nd, 2015, lot 4273) slabbed VF 35, I thought it was nicer although in hindsight a much nicer one sold recently.
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Valued Member
United States
155 Posts |
Another one. This is actually what started my Polish buying from 1998. My wife wanted to display representative coins from my ancestry at our wedding reception and I thought "why not get a Polish thaler?" So I phoned Karl Stephens and he sold me one for $800. I know it's a lot of $ but you'd spend more in even a small car accident I reasoned to myself. Anyhow: Thaler of Ladislawitz IV 1634 (Karl Stephens)  |
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Replies: 150 / Views: 11,687 |
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Posted 11/24/2018 10:44 pm
