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#0149
THE METAL CONTENT OF SELECTED POLISH AND BRANDENBURG COINS...
A new standard has emerged with the results of Mateusz Bogucki and Maciej
Trzeciecki’s study of the Piotrówka hillfort, in Radom.26 No new synthesis can be
presented before their work is ready in its entirety; however, certain conclusions
concerning the chronology of the coins are already available. As we emphasized
earlier, the old literature describes the pennies with the Crown/K as being rather
late because the Head/eagle type was regarded as belonging to the beginning of
Casimir’s reign. Having published the first available coin of the Eagle/K type,
Mateusz Bogucki noted that while pennies with the letter K only occur within the
provinces of Krakow and Sandomierz, the groschen and kwartniks of Casimir -
supposedly contemporary with these pennies - are present practically everywhere
within the kingdom. Moreover, at the site that he investigated, these coins appeared
together with the pennies of Vladislas the Ell-high and not with coins from the
latter stage of Casimir’s reign. This is supported by the general chronology of the
site. Bogucki thus suggested moving the date of the pennies of Casimir with the
monogram to an earlier period.27 28 This is an appropriate conclusion, especially since
the coin from Radom, much like our coin no. 4, shows the same eagle that can be
found on certain Krakow pennies attributed to Vladislas the Ell-high. That a return
was made in around 1370 to the form from 1333 is highly unlikely. The legend
n rggis POLONie, in which the capital Nis substituted for M (Moneta regis Polonie),
is also typical of the coins of Vladislas the Ell-high. Certain versions of the Helmet/
eagle coin attributed to Vladislas are particularly similar to the Eagle/K type. Thus,
the coins with the K must be earlier than had originally been thought. The fact that
they have only been found in the provinces of Krakow and Sandomierz - but also the
form of the eagle - indicates that they were most likely struck at the Krakow mint.
These conclusions do not concern the second group of coins of Casimir the Great
with a monogram, that is, the ones with an uncrowned letter R. This group should be
considered separately: it is not represented among the coins under discussion in this
article, nor were any found at the Piotrówka hillfort. These conclusions do, however,
concern the Crown/K type, for even though they have yet to appear in Radom, with
regard to their manufacture and style both penny types with the crowned monogram
K are, as mentioned, very similar to each other.
The excavations at Radom also put into question the dating of the anonymous
pennies of Vladislas the Ell-high of the type inscribed Helmet/eagleH These coins
made up the majority of the hoard from Piotrówka, in which there was also a penny
26 BOGUCKI 2013; SKUBICHA and KWIATKOWSKA-RZODECZKO (cds.) 2013: 112-114.
27 BOGUCKI 2013: 44.
28 BOGUCKI and TRZECIECKI forthcoming. Wc would like to thank the authors for making the text
available to us before its official publication.
145
A new standard has emerged with the results of Mateusz Bogucki and Maciej
Trzeciecki’s study of the Piotrówka hillfort, in Radom.26 No new synthesis can be
presented before their work is ready in its entirety; however, certain conclusions
concerning the chronology of the coins are already available. As we emphasized
earlier, the old literature describes the pennies with the Crown/K as being rather
late because the Head/eagle type was regarded as belonging to the beginning of
Casimir’s reign. Having published the first available coin of the Eagle/K type,
Mateusz Bogucki noted that while pennies with the letter K only occur within the
provinces of Krakow and Sandomierz, the groschen and kwartniks of Casimir -
supposedly contemporary with these pennies - are present practically everywhere
within the kingdom. Moreover, at the site that he investigated, these coins appeared
together with the pennies of Vladislas the Ell-high and not with coins from the
latter stage of Casimir’s reign. This is supported by the general chronology of the
site. Bogucki thus suggested moving the date of the pennies of Casimir with the
monogram to an earlier period.27 28 This is an appropriate conclusion, especially since
the coin from Radom, much like our coin no. 4, shows the same eagle that can be
found on certain Krakow pennies attributed to Vladislas the Ell-high. That a return
was made in around 1370 to the form from 1333 is highly unlikely. The legend
n rggis POLONie, in which the capital Nis substituted for M (Moneta regis Polonie),
is also typical of the coins of Vladislas the Ell-high. Certain versions of the Helmet/
eagle coin attributed to Vladislas are particularly similar to the Eagle/K type. Thus,
the coins with the K must be earlier than had originally been thought. The fact that
they have only been found in the provinces of Krakow and Sandomierz - but also the
form of the eagle - indicates that they were most likely struck at the Krakow mint.
These conclusions do not concern the second group of coins of Casimir the Great
with a monogram, that is, the ones with an uncrowned letter R. This group should be
considered separately: it is not represented among the coins under discussion in this
article, nor were any found at the Piotrówka hillfort. These conclusions do, however,
concern the Crown/K type, for even though they have yet to appear in Radom, with
regard to their manufacture and style both penny types with the crowned monogram
K are, as mentioned, very similar to each other.
The excavations at Radom also put into question the dating of the anonymous
pennies of Vladislas the Ell-high of the type inscribed Helmet/eagleH These coins
made up the majority of the hoard from Piotrówka, in which there was also a penny
26 BOGUCKI 2013; SKUBICHA and KWIATKOWSKA-RZODECZKO (cds.) 2013: 112-114.
27 BOGUCKI 2013: 44.
28 BOGUCKI and TRZECIECKI forthcoming. Wc would like to thank the authors for making the text
available to us before its official publication.
145