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#0150
BEATA MIAZGA, BORYS PASZKIEWICZ
146
with the monogram K, two post-coronation pennies with Vladislas the Ell-high’s
name as well as Bohemian coins - of Wenceslas II and of John the Blind - from
the years 1300-1346. No pennies of Casimir of the Head/eagle type have been
found either in the hoard or among any other finds from Piotrówka. This is probably
tied to the chronology of the archaeological site which, in around the middle of
the 14th century, caught fire (unfortunately no more exact date can be given), resulting in
a fundamental change in the site’s function.29 Meanwhile, in hoards consisting mostly
of the Head/eagle pennies, a small number of pennies with a helmet appear (here
reference is being made to the hoard of Ferdynand Wysocki, which probably came
from Mierzyn; to the hoard from Nowy Kamień; and to the so-called Bisier hoard, of
which no information is available about where or when it was found).30 It would thus
seem that the pennies with Vladislas the Ell-high’s name were first followed by the
coins with the monogram K, and only then by the coins of the Helmet/eagle type and
then those of the Head/eagle type. If, however, the Eagle/K type belonged to Casimir,
then it is even more likely the case that the Crown/K, Helmet/eagle, and Head/eagle
types came from the reign of this same king. An in-depth discussion of this proposition
would go beyond the subject of this work; nevertheless, we must at least give some
introductory remarks. That this proposition is correct may be supported by the new
deciphering of the obverse of some of the coins of the Helmet/eagle type. Although
the legend is barely legible, it seems to read as follows: +n k rggis or +n rggis k31
(up until now the letter K has been regarded as an additional R).
R. Kiersnowski was right in believing that the devaluation of the Krakow penny
in 1334 did not require a change of type. Nor was this required by a reduction in the
weight standard. The sudden reduction in the weight standard - while keeping the
monetary type the same - was later introduced by Casimir the Great in his Polish
kwartniks and Ruthenian grossi. Pennies with the crowned monogram K, which
in accordance with our understanding would have been minted in around 1334,
only provide us with fragmentary metrological data that cannot be regarded as
representative. However, no other information is available, as a result of which it is
on this data that we must base our tentative conclusions. Whereas the Eagle/K type
shows a silver fineness of 11 lots, the Crown/Ktype shows a silver fineness of 6-8 lots.
While the weight of the former is about 0.34 g, that of the latter is about 0.26 g
(or there might even have been two standards in one type, one of about 0.34 g and one
of about 0.21 g). It is therefore our suggestion that pennies of the Eagle/K type were
struck during the years 1333-1334 and that the eagle was replaced with the crown -
29 BOGUCKI and TRZEC1ECK1, forthcoming: 285.
30 WYSOCKI 1894;PIETROŃ 1994;WITTYG 1886.
31 Warsaw Numismatic Centre (https://wcn.pl/archive), offer no. 159 618; Auctions 50: 13 and 63: 243.
146
with the monogram K, two post-coronation pennies with Vladislas the Ell-high’s
name as well as Bohemian coins - of Wenceslas II and of John the Blind - from
the years 1300-1346. No pennies of Casimir of the Head/eagle type have been
found either in the hoard or among any other finds from Piotrówka. This is probably
tied to the chronology of the archaeological site which, in around the middle of
the 14th century, caught fire (unfortunately no more exact date can be given), resulting in
a fundamental change in the site’s function.29 Meanwhile, in hoards consisting mostly
of the Head/eagle pennies, a small number of pennies with a helmet appear (here
reference is being made to the hoard of Ferdynand Wysocki, which probably came
from Mierzyn; to the hoard from Nowy Kamień; and to the so-called Bisier hoard, of
which no information is available about where or when it was found).30 It would thus
seem that the pennies with Vladislas the Ell-high’s name were first followed by the
coins with the monogram K, and only then by the coins of the Helmet/eagle type and
then those of the Head/eagle type. If, however, the Eagle/K type belonged to Casimir,
then it is even more likely the case that the Crown/K, Helmet/eagle, and Head/eagle
types came from the reign of this same king. An in-depth discussion of this proposition
would go beyond the subject of this work; nevertheless, we must at least give some
introductory remarks. That this proposition is correct may be supported by the new
deciphering of the obverse of some of the coins of the Helmet/eagle type. Although
the legend is barely legible, it seems to read as follows: +n k rggis or +n rggis k31
(up until now the letter K has been regarded as an additional R).
R. Kiersnowski was right in believing that the devaluation of the Krakow penny
in 1334 did not require a change of type. Nor was this required by a reduction in the
weight standard. The sudden reduction in the weight standard - while keeping the
monetary type the same - was later introduced by Casimir the Great in his Polish
kwartniks and Ruthenian grossi. Pennies with the crowned monogram K, which
in accordance with our understanding would have been minted in around 1334,
only provide us with fragmentary metrological data that cannot be regarded as
representative. However, no other information is available, as a result of which it is
on this data that we must base our tentative conclusions. Whereas the Eagle/K type
shows a silver fineness of 11 lots, the Crown/Ktype shows a silver fineness of 6-8 lots.
While the weight of the former is about 0.34 g, that of the latter is about 0.26 g
(or there might even have been two standards in one type, one of about 0.34 g and one
of about 0.21 g). It is therefore our suggestion that pennies of the Eagle/K type were
struck during the years 1333-1334 and that the eagle was replaced with the crown -
29 BOGUCKI and TRZEC1ECK1, forthcoming: 285.
30 WYSOCKI 1894;PIETROŃ 1994;WITTYG 1886.
31 Warsaw Numismatic Centre (https://wcn.pl/archive), offer no. 159 618; Auctions 50: 13 and 63: 243.