DOI Artikel:
Suchodolski, Stanisław: Beware, the fraud!: On alleged finds of deniers with the legend GNEZDVN CIVITAS and other coins from the reign of Bolesław the brave
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21230#0306
Krasicki could not possibly have corweyed to Bochenek or Vossberg any
information about the provenience of the coin that was more precise
than the information he himself had. In that case, how did Vossberg find
ont abont Rychnowo? He may have learned this, of course, from the
owner, i.e. from Bochenek. It seems likely, however, that the actual se-
quence of events was reversed, and it was Vossberg in Berlin, born in
Strzelno, Kuiavia, who was nearer the find made in West Prussia. It re-
mains an open ąuestion, of course, how these people came into contact
in the first place. Could it be that the Galician banker had some business
matters to attend to in the Berlin bank where Vossberg had been a clerk
sińce 1826?
The coins from the Rychnowo hoard were previously known from
two sources. About 300 specimens (from among ca. 1300) were identi-
fied (and selected?) by Heinrich Cappe, who wrote that the deposit had
been discovered near Toruń. The further history of these coins is un-
known, but they were probably taken to Germany. Several dozen of the
more carefully described specimens were most likely incorporated by
Cappe into his collection, which was subseąuently sold off, primarily to
Russia. Another batch was in the possession of Karol Beyer (Warsaw),
who sent the German, Czech, and Anglo-Saxon coins to Hermann Grotę,
enclosing with them the information that they came from Rychnowo.7 It
seems elear that Bochenek's (Vossberg's) specimen did not belong to
either of these batches. Cappe was probably unaware of the precise pro-
venience of the hoard, while Beyer would not have parted with a uniąue
denier of Bolesław the Brave for any amount of money. The conclusion
that emerges from all this is that Vossberg had some sort of third source
of access to coins from Rychnowo. It may perhaps also be supposed that
Vossberg's supplier was indeed Cappe, who knew precisely where the
coins were found, but in print used the name of the larger city.
One way or another, Bochenek did not acąuire his specimen from
Beyer, but rather by a roundabout path that led through Berlin. If this
7 H. P. Cappe, Die Miinzen der deutschen Kaiser und Kónige des Mittelalters III (Dresden
1857), pp. 47-54, 61, 67-69, Taf. 1.8,9; 1.27; V1.80; P. Berghaus, BeitrdgezurdeutschenMiinzkun-
de des 11. Jahrhunderts, vol. 4: Polnische Fundę des 11. Jahrhunderts aus dem Nachlafi Hermann
Grotes, Hamb. Beitr. z Num, Heft 8 (1954), pp. 219 ff.; PSW II, no. 143; B. Kluge, Syłloge of
Coins of the British Isles 36, State Museum Berlin Coin Gabinet (London 1987), p. 25 f, no. 30;
E. Triller, Wykopaliska monet Karola Beyera, WN XXXV (1991), pp. 55 f., no. 60.
306
information about the provenience of the coin that was more precise
than the information he himself had. In that case, how did Vossberg find
ont abont Rychnowo? He may have learned this, of course, from the
owner, i.e. from Bochenek. It seems likely, however, that the actual se-
quence of events was reversed, and it was Vossberg in Berlin, born in
Strzelno, Kuiavia, who was nearer the find made in West Prussia. It re-
mains an open ąuestion, of course, how these people came into contact
in the first place. Could it be that the Galician banker had some business
matters to attend to in the Berlin bank where Vossberg had been a clerk
sińce 1826?
The coins from the Rychnowo hoard were previously known from
two sources. About 300 specimens (from among ca. 1300) were identi-
fied (and selected?) by Heinrich Cappe, who wrote that the deposit had
been discovered near Toruń. The further history of these coins is un-
known, but they were probably taken to Germany. Several dozen of the
more carefully described specimens were most likely incorporated by
Cappe into his collection, which was subseąuently sold off, primarily to
Russia. Another batch was in the possession of Karol Beyer (Warsaw),
who sent the German, Czech, and Anglo-Saxon coins to Hermann Grotę,
enclosing with them the information that they came from Rychnowo.7 It
seems elear that Bochenek's (Vossberg's) specimen did not belong to
either of these batches. Cappe was probably unaware of the precise pro-
venience of the hoard, while Beyer would not have parted with a uniąue
denier of Bolesław the Brave for any amount of money. The conclusion
that emerges from all this is that Vossberg had some sort of third source
of access to coins from Rychnowo. It may perhaps also be supposed that
Vossberg's supplier was indeed Cappe, who knew precisely where the
coins were found, but in print used the name of the larger city.
One way or another, Bochenek did not acąuire his specimen from
Beyer, but rather by a roundabout path that led through Berlin. If this
7 H. P. Cappe, Die Miinzen der deutschen Kaiser und Kónige des Mittelalters III (Dresden
1857), pp. 47-54, 61, 67-69, Taf. 1.8,9; 1.27; V1.80; P. Berghaus, BeitrdgezurdeutschenMiinzkun-
de des 11. Jahrhunderts, vol. 4: Polnische Fundę des 11. Jahrhunderts aus dem Nachlafi Hermann
Grotes, Hamb. Beitr. z Num, Heft 8 (1954), pp. 219 ff.; PSW II, no. 143; B. Kluge, Syłloge of
Coins of the British Isles 36, State Museum Berlin Coin Gabinet (London 1987), p. 25 f, no. 30;
E. Triller, Wykopaliska monet Karola Beyera, WN XXXV (1991), pp. 55 f., no. 60.
306