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#0151
THE METAL CONTENT OF SELECTED POLISH AND BRANDENBURG COINS...
and thus that there was only a partial change in the type combined with a reduction
in the weight standard - subsequent to the devaluation of 1334 which is noted in the
accounts of the papal collectors.32
However, the diameter of the Krakow pennies with the K was still about 14 mm,
while the inscribed pennies with the helmet have a diameter of about 13 mm. Wysockis
investigations showed that the latter had a fineness of 7 lots (we do not know how much
the examined coins weighed). The coin examined by Wiktor Wittyg had a much higher
fineness - 12 lots (750/1000) - and a low weight, that of 0.252 g.33 The chipped coin
that Franciszek Piekosiński wrote about had an even higher value: “almost” 14 lots
(875/1000) and a weight of 0.33 g.34 This is because the pennies of the inscribed Helmet/
eagle type have two dominant weights: one of about 0.33 g and another of about 0.23 g
(the weight of the Crown/K type looks very similar!). Meanwhile, as a result of the
reform from the end of 1337 - as interpreted by Kiersnowski - it was the coins that
were bigger than their predecessors that were supposed to maintain their value.35 There
are no later coin types ascribed to Casimir the Great that have a diameter of 13 mm
(this is also true of the pennies with the uncrowned letter R). Thus, these would have
been pennies of the Eagle/K and Crown/K types, the largest pennies of Casimir the
Great. However, the silver value of the pennies of the Eagle/K type is too high to be
1/16 of a groschen (0.234 g, which, multiplied by 16, would give 3.75 g of pure silver
in each groschen, when the standard of a Prague groschen during this period has
been calculated at around 3.2 g of pure silver).36 We can find no better explanation
for this contradiction than to assume that Kiersnowski’s interpretation of the papal
collector’s record was wrong. Instead, we put forward the tentative hypothesis that in
1337 the Krakow mint replaced the penny of the Crown/K type with the penny of the
Helmet/eagle type (the version with the inscription), which was then continued into
the 1340s (the anepigraphic version might be from some mint outside of Krakow).
It may be that the sieve set up in 1337 to catch the older coins was supposed to remove
the larger pennies from circulation and not the smaller ones.
THE SMALL KWARTNIKS OF CASIMIR THE GREAT
The next three coins are no less exciting and mysterious (nos. 6-8). While
they used to be called half-kwartniks or quarter-groschen by modern scholars,
now - in accordance with Paszkiewicz’s proposition - the term “small kwartnik” is
32 PTAŚNIK (cd.) 1913: 352, 378, 391.
33 WITTYG 1886: 355.
34 PIEKOSIŃSKI 1878: 30-31.
35 PTAŚNIK (cd.) 1913: 401; KIERSNOWSKI 1968: 181.
36 CASTELIN 1960: 143.
147
and thus that there was only a partial change in the type combined with a reduction
in the weight standard - subsequent to the devaluation of 1334 which is noted in the
accounts of the papal collectors.32
However, the diameter of the Krakow pennies with the K was still about 14 mm,
while the inscribed pennies with the helmet have a diameter of about 13 mm. Wysockis
investigations showed that the latter had a fineness of 7 lots (we do not know how much
the examined coins weighed). The coin examined by Wiktor Wittyg had a much higher
fineness - 12 lots (750/1000) - and a low weight, that of 0.252 g.33 The chipped coin
that Franciszek Piekosiński wrote about had an even higher value: “almost” 14 lots
(875/1000) and a weight of 0.33 g.34 This is because the pennies of the inscribed Helmet/
eagle type have two dominant weights: one of about 0.33 g and another of about 0.23 g
(the weight of the Crown/K type looks very similar!). Meanwhile, as a result of the
reform from the end of 1337 - as interpreted by Kiersnowski - it was the coins that
were bigger than their predecessors that were supposed to maintain their value.35 There
are no later coin types ascribed to Casimir the Great that have a diameter of 13 mm
(this is also true of the pennies with the uncrowned letter R). Thus, these would have
been pennies of the Eagle/K and Crown/K types, the largest pennies of Casimir the
Great. However, the silver value of the pennies of the Eagle/K type is too high to be
1/16 of a groschen (0.234 g, which, multiplied by 16, would give 3.75 g of pure silver
in each groschen, when the standard of a Prague groschen during this period has
been calculated at around 3.2 g of pure silver).36 We can find no better explanation
for this contradiction than to assume that Kiersnowski’s interpretation of the papal
collector’s record was wrong. Instead, we put forward the tentative hypothesis that in
1337 the Krakow mint replaced the penny of the Crown/K type with the penny of the
Helmet/eagle type (the version with the inscription), which was then continued into
the 1340s (the anepigraphic version might be from some mint outside of Krakow).
It may be that the sieve set up in 1337 to catch the older coins was supposed to remove
the larger pennies from circulation and not the smaller ones.
THE SMALL KWARTNIKS OF CASIMIR THE GREAT
The next three coins are no less exciting and mysterious (nos. 6-8). While
they used to be called half-kwartniks or quarter-groschen by modern scholars,
now - in accordance with Paszkiewicz’s proposition - the term “small kwartnik” is
32 PTAŚNIK (cd.) 1913: 352, 378, 391.
33 WITTYG 1886: 355.
34 PIEKOSIŃSKI 1878: 30-31.
35 PTAŚNIK (cd.) 1913: 401; KIERSNOWSKI 1968: 181.
36 CASTELIN 1960: 143.
147