Notae Numismaticae - Zapiski Numizmatyczne (7.2012)

THE DUCAL GRIFFIN IN THE COINAGE OF WEST POMERANIA

the regular appearance of the Griffin emblem, as the coat of arms of the ducal
house and Pomerania, on coining dies/stamps. Thus, the municipal coinage issued
over the 14th - 15th centuries would bear the symbol of the city on the obverse and
the Griffin on the reverse. There is no ąuestion that the mint of Szczecin can boast
the greatest number of coinage issues with representations of the ducal Griffin.36
Of the then minted denars, the most common types are those depicting a city gate
with three towers and a helmet in the clearance on the obverse and the Griffin on
the reverse.37 The structure symbolized the self-governing status of the municipal-
ity, which is also closely similar to the earliest principal seal of the city dating back
to ca. 1250. The field of the seal represents a three-span arcade with the archi-
tecture above and the figurę of an enthroned duke holding a sword and a sceptre
below. On either side of the duke, a shield with the Griffin emblazoned on it. The
architecture accentuates the special character of the city as a self-goveming unit
and the Capital of the Duchy of Szczecin (est. 1295). As it appears, the subseąuent
issues would replace the structure with the image of a GriffhTs head in crown, fac-
ing sinister, and emblazoned on a “Gothic” shield.38 The said image, sińce then the
emblem symbolizing the city, should be considered as one “derived” from the du-
cal coat of arms. These denar types would have their own variants representing the
GriffhTs head, in crown, dexter, with no coat of arms on the shield (PI. 1, Fig. I ).39
In the both cases, the reverse bears the image of the ducal Griffin passant, dexter.
The least common, and perhaps the latest, of the Szczecin denar types, which
had already no longer featured the ducal coat of arms, were the coins represent-
ing solely some municipal emblems (GriffhTs head - building).40 The denars of
the 14th-15th centuries struck by the other municipal mints: at Demmin, Gartz,
Goleniów, Pasewalk, Pyrzyce, Słupsk, Stargard, Trzebiatów, Usedom, Wolin, and
Wolgast (PI. 1, Fig. 2) were characterized by the iconographic pattems identical
to that of Szczecin. The obverse of the municipal coin would regularly feature the
symbolic emblem of the city, often the later-period coat of arms or a part thereof,
while the reverse would represent the ducal Griffin. It would be usually depicted
as passant dexter, or less commonly sinister, with the displayed wings on either

36 Stralsund was the largest city of West Pomerania in the 14th—15th centuries, but its coinage had never
featured the Griffin emblem. The city purchased the minting charter from the duke in 1325 for an amount of 2,500
units (grzywna) of silver secured the whole extent of minting rights, including their own type of issue, ratę, and
depictions.
37 Denars of Szczecin: Dbg 248. Found in very large ąuantities in the hoards of Pyrzyce (MNS 6650) and
Łagiewniki (MNS 14971), and also represented in the systematized inventory: MNS 5492, 5926-5956, 7767,
7800,11162, 13069.
38 Denars of Szczecin: Dbg 254, MNS 5951, 5954, 5958, 5961, 5964, 5965.
39 Denars of Szczecin: Dbg 253, MNS 5924, 5959, 5960.
40 Denars of Szczecin: Dbg 246, MNS 5923. The issue of the denars bearing no ducal coat of arms may be
considered as an attempt at becoming emancipated from the duke’s power.