How Far Back Can We Go? Sixth Edition! Ended At 1380 Waiting On 1379

1581 1 groschen of Polish Livonia (in transit ... auction house photos)

We have been showing his coins for a few days, but not commenting on the history.
In 1574, Poland-Lithuania experienced a succession crisis when Henry Valois of France, who had been elected King of Poland in 1573, ascended the throne of France when his father died, and abandoned the Polish throne (@erafjel's post for 1584).
After a hotly contested election process, Stephen Bathory of Hungary was elected the next king, over Maximilian II Hapsburg, who was favored by some influential factions in the Polish clergy and nobility. Bathory cemented his position by marrying Anna Jagionella, the sister of the deceased Sigismund II of Poland-Lithuania.
The city of Gdansk refused to acknowledge the outcome, and revolted, eventually succumbing in late 1577.
Meanwhile, Bathory pursued the longstanding Livonian War against Ivan the Terrible, who had designs on having a Russian port on the Baltic. Here, too, Poland-Lithuania and its allies were victorious, with the terms of the peace giving Poland-Lithuania sovereignity over Courland and southern Livonia, and Sweden northern Livonia (Swedish Estonia).

From a numismatic viewpoint, we have coins minted in Riga under the authority of a Polish sovereign starting in 1581 with 1 and 3 groschen coins like this one. This would be a short-lived situation, with Sweden taking control of this part of Livonia just 45 years later, as a consequence of the 30 Years' War.

Navarre/Bearn 1580, 1 franc, Henry II/III, Pau mint.



Henry III of Navarre, also Lord Henry II of Bearn, and future king Henry IV of France, here in his twenties.

Don't miss the little cow below his bust, the symbol for Bearn. Look carefully and you can see the lion face on his shoulder (there just to make him look cool)!

Here is a Half Öre from Sweden dated 1580 AD:

More nice numismatic history! I think the first Polish coins with legends in Polish date only to the late 1700s.

1579 Poland 1 groschen, Gdansk (Danzig) mint.

We are missing @1c5d this time through, who gave that great history on the turbulence in this part of the world along with the coins and tokens he posted in the 5th edition. I was fascinated to learn about that struggle for independence that pre-dated ours in America by 200 years.

Another 1 groschen of Stephen Bathory, Gdansk mint, 1578

Agreed--he had some real eye candy to post plus really interesting historical perspectives to add.

For today, I have this little 2 Kreuzer from the German Countship of Pfalz-Simmern dated 1578 AD:

Agree. I think there is a good chance we will not catch up to the previous edition unless we get some "reinforcements."

Republic of Venice 40 soldi, Doge Sebastiano Venier. Venier was elected doge in June 1577 at about 80 years old (his birth date is not known), and died less than 8 months later. HM in the exergue obverse are the initials of mintmaster Gerolamo Morosini, who took office in May 1577, and was succeeded in September, so the coin can be dated to 1577.
Venier was quite a "late bloomer," becoming a naval war hero at the age of 73 after leading the Venetian fleet to victory over the Ottoman navy at the Battle of Lepanto (1570). (Philip II of Spain, who we will see soon enough, helped finance the Venetian navy). Venier's portrait, by Tintoretto (note the oar-powered vessels in the background):