Notae Numismaticae - Zapiski Numizmatyczne (7.2012)

THE DUCAL GRIFFIN IN THE COINAGE OF WEST POMERANIA

fundamental shortcoming of this interpretation is the represented animal’s lack of
wings. Conseąuently, many scholars have come to recognize this indistinct repre-
sentation as a lion rampant. On the first of his eąuestrian seals (dated to ca. 1227),
Barnim I, Bogislaw II’s son, is shown holding a shield without any coat of arms. It
is only his second seal (1234) that represents the shield bearing a griffin rampant.
After the unification of West Pomerania (following the death of Wartislaw III),
Barnim I came to use his third eąuestrian seal, which he would retain until his death
in 1278, this one also representing the Griffin's emblem. Prior to 1264, Barnim I
began to use his secret seal depicting a shield with the Griffin and a helmet above.
Wartislaw III, Duke of Demmin, did not put the Griffin coat of arms on his first
two seals (dating to 1225-1237 and 1234, respectively). It would only be featured
on his third seal, dating to 1237-1242, and the last two seals of 1248-1251 and
1254-1264.30 Upon the death of Wartislaw III in 1264, Barnim I remained the only
bearer of the Griffin coat of arms, which would later pass on to his sons: Bogislaw
IV, Barnim II, and Otto I.31 The above analysis of the seal representations is clearly
indicative of the fact that in the course of the first half of the 13th century, and most
certainly during the 123Os, the Griffin had ultimately become the emblem of the
Pomeranian ducal dynasty that would come to be known as the House of Griffins
(Polish: Gryfici) in the 15th century. This timeline corresponds exactly to the period
of the appearance of the Eagle on the ducal seals of the Piast dynasty.
Nonetheless, the first coins of West Pomerania, i.e., denars minted by the local
dukes beginning from c. 1170, do not bear any Griffin imagery. From the tum of
the 12th and 13th centuries, the organization of the monetary economy of the West-
Pomeranian duchies, then remaining within the spheres of political influence of
Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire, was not very much different from that of
Brandenburg. The strong Brandenburgian influence can be seen in the representa-
tions featured on the 13th-century denars and bracteats. Aside from the denars with
the bust of a ruler or a saint on the obverse and a building on the reverse, there are
denars with a cross on the obverse and a building on the reverse.32 The first coin-
age depicting the Griffin only dates back to the reign of Barnim I (1226-1278).
The Griffin image was usually that of a passant, less often rampant, Griffin, mostly
dexter.33 The characteristic feature, as far as heraldic images are concemed, is lack

30 BOBOWSKI, Dawne..., pp. 73-75.
31 Archiwum Państwowe w Szczecinie [State Archives in Szczecin] (thereafter: APS), Zbiór pieczęci i tło-
ków pieczętnych [Collection of Seals and Seal Stamps] (thereafter: ZPiTP), no. 80 (eąuestrian seal of Bogislaw
IV), nos. 84 and 89 (eąuestrian seals of Otto I).
32 R. KIERSNOWSKI, „Denary zachodnio-pomorskie...”, pp. 209-232.
33 Ample materiał for the iconographic research was provided by a number of hoards found mostly in
the 19th century in the territories of West Pomerania and Brandenburg, with the coinage of West Pomerania in
considerable ąuantities. Among the most noteworthy hoards are those from Laski (Stemberg county), Wieleń