Notae Numismaticae - Zapiski Numizmatyczne (7.2012)

RADOSŁAW GAZINSKI, GENOWEFA HOROSZKO

of shield image on the coin as well as free positioning of the emblem within the
coin’s field which is far from any heraldic rules. Such an explicit depiction of the
Griffin, which held the central place on the die aimed at identifying the duke as
well as inform about belonging to given territory. We have been observing the
stability of the emblem on coins within dynasty and its individual lines over the
centuries. For the period 1250-1325 (the dates as per Dannenberg), eight types of
denars bearing the ducal Griffin image have been identified.34 Most of those coins
were struck in the years 1276-1278, i.e. over a period of the joint rule of Duke
Barnim I and his son Bogislaw IV. Unfortunately, the other denar types have not
been attributed to any specific ruler. For the determination of the chronology of the
earliest Griffin images as used on the coins, the imagery represented on the denar
(Dbg 164) found in the hoard of Żeńsko (gmina Krzęcin, Choszczno county). The
obverse represents a half-figure of a bishop affronte, while the reverse bears a de-
piction of the Griffin passant, which is mterpreted as a manifestation of the activity
of both the bishop and the duke at the foundation of Kołobrzeg (12 5 5).35 In view
of these circumstances, it should be assumed that the Griffin had first appeared in
the West-Pomeranian coinage ca. 1255, over twenty years later than the emblems
represented on the ducal seals. In addition, the standing and eąuestrian seals tend
to portray the Griffin as a coat of arms emblazoned on the ducal shield, whereas the
coins already feature independent representations thereof, attesting to the gradu-
ally increasing reception of the coat of arms. The independent representation of the
Griffin in the coinage is of particular importance in its evolution as a ducal coat
of arms, as it indicates that the emblem can be already regarded as symbolically
identifying the duke.
Foundations of municipalities in West Pomerania in the latter half of the 13th
century, and their subseąuent economic and trade development within the Hanse-
atic League system, had Consolidated the townspeople of Pomerania in relation to
the weaker and fragmented ducal authority. One of the outward manifestations of
the growing municipal influence was the founding of a mint and the issue of the
municipal coinage. It is assumed that in the course of the 14th—15th centuries about
a dozen or so mints would remain in operation in West Pomerania for shorter or
longer periods of time. In their minting charters conferred on or sold to the munici-
palities, the dukes determined the type of issue, defined its standard, and reserved

(Czarnków county), Wojcieszyce (Gorzów county), Żeńsko (Choszczno county), Żuków (Pyrzyce county), or
from a number of unspecified locations in Brandenburg, Neumark, and West Pomerania. Cf. also S. KUBIAK,
Znaleziska monet z lat 1146—1500 z terenu Polski. Inwentarz, Poznań 1998. Directions of Griffin representations
and shield divisions as per heraldic rules.
34 According to Dannenberg: Dbg 68, MNS 7099; Dbg 68a, 70, MNS 7087, 8948; Dbg 71, 75, 78, MNS 7100.
35 KIERSNOWSKI, “Monety biskupów...”, pp. 7-11.