DOI article:
Miazga, Beata; Paszkiewicz, Boris: The metal content of selected Polish and Brandenburg coins from the 14th and 15th centuries
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49247#0145
THE METAL CONTENT OF SELECTED POLISH AND BRANDENBURG COINS...
longer extant from the hoard of Sady (Poznań District5). The Sady bracteates were
mistakenly recognized as being from Mecklenburg. A similar bull ’s head also occurs
on anonymous kwartniks from the first decades of the 14th century. Both the Sady
bracteates and the kwartniks could have come from Poznań. The second hohlpfennig,
which probably has an eagle on it, has no analogy - not even a distant one - and is
distinguished by its exceptionally low fineness of silver. Here as well the similarity
between the interior of the coin and its field (368/1000 and 405/1000, respectively)
suggests that no attempts were made to enrich its surface with silver. We cannot
say much more about this second coin - the motif of a spread eagle appears in all
the lands of Poland.
GREATER POLAND PARVUS
The results that were attained for the parvus (quarter-kwartnik) from Poznań
(no. 3) show a more distinct difference between the interior of the coin and its field.
This is an exceptional coin, one that is not mentioned in any catalogues. The first
coin of this kind appeared in 2009, on the antiquities market. The second appeared
a bit later, in a private collection and this one is the third. A very similar male head
appeared in a densely packed beaded border on a coin with an indecipherable
reverse (private collection). While the coin under discussion here is anepigraphic, its
identification is facilitated by the fact that we can find a similar image - a diademed
head in profile and the letter P- on kwartniks with the inscription denarivs pozna.
Ryszard Kiersnowski thought that the diademed head on the obverse of this kwartnik
was modelled on the head of St. Maurice from the coins of Vienne.6 The image on
the parvus is flatter and has sharper contours, but we can see that the design is the
same as that of the kwartnik. A similar head, though one executed using different
tools and surrounded by ornamentation, can be seen on the parvus found in Sowinki
(Gmina Mosina, Poznań District). The reverse features the Bohemian Lion, and
Borys Paszkiewicz assumes that this is a Greater Poland coin of Wenceslas II.7
Keeping in mind that the kwartnik is commonly attributed to Henry I (III) of Głogów
or to his sons while they ruled in Greater Poland (1306-1314), the attribution that
we give to our no. 3 coin should not arouse any controversy.
The metal content of parvi was already the subject of investigation with
regard to the coins from the hoard from Wielka Wieś, near Szadek, which we think
represent the same denomination but in different types. Here, two silver standards
5 JAŻDŻEWSKI 1879.
6 KIERSNOWSKI 1972: 157.
7 PASZKIEWICZ forthcoming (b).
.141
longer extant from the hoard of Sady (Poznań District5). The Sady bracteates were
mistakenly recognized as being from Mecklenburg. A similar bull ’s head also occurs
on anonymous kwartniks from the first decades of the 14th century. Both the Sady
bracteates and the kwartniks could have come from Poznań. The second hohlpfennig,
which probably has an eagle on it, has no analogy - not even a distant one - and is
distinguished by its exceptionally low fineness of silver. Here as well the similarity
between the interior of the coin and its field (368/1000 and 405/1000, respectively)
suggests that no attempts were made to enrich its surface with silver. We cannot
say much more about this second coin - the motif of a spread eagle appears in all
the lands of Poland.
GREATER POLAND PARVUS
The results that were attained for the parvus (quarter-kwartnik) from Poznań
(no. 3) show a more distinct difference between the interior of the coin and its field.
This is an exceptional coin, one that is not mentioned in any catalogues. The first
coin of this kind appeared in 2009, on the antiquities market. The second appeared
a bit later, in a private collection and this one is the third. A very similar male head
appeared in a densely packed beaded border on a coin with an indecipherable
reverse (private collection). While the coin under discussion here is anepigraphic, its
identification is facilitated by the fact that we can find a similar image - a diademed
head in profile and the letter P- on kwartniks with the inscription denarivs pozna.
Ryszard Kiersnowski thought that the diademed head on the obverse of this kwartnik
was modelled on the head of St. Maurice from the coins of Vienne.6 The image on
the parvus is flatter and has sharper contours, but we can see that the design is the
same as that of the kwartnik. A similar head, though one executed using different
tools and surrounded by ornamentation, can be seen on the parvus found in Sowinki
(Gmina Mosina, Poznań District). The reverse features the Bohemian Lion, and
Borys Paszkiewicz assumes that this is a Greater Poland coin of Wenceslas II.7
Keeping in mind that the kwartnik is commonly attributed to Henry I (III) of Głogów
or to his sons while they ruled in Greater Poland (1306-1314), the attribution that
we give to our no. 3 coin should not arouse any controversy.
The metal content of parvi was already the subject of investigation with
regard to the coins from the hoard from Wielka Wieś, near Szadek, which we think
represent the same denomination but in different types. Here, two silver standards
5 JAŻDŻEWSKI 1879.
6 KIERSNOWSKI 1972: 157.
7 PASZKIEWICZ forthcoming (b).
.141