Notae Numismaticae - Zapiski Numizmatyczne (14.2019)

REMARKS ON CHANGES IN THE ICONOGRAPHY.

Why were the first letters of the minters’ last names used on these half-
groschen instead of the first letters of their first names as had been done before
this? The explanation seems obvious. Not only did both of them have the name
Mikołaj {Nicolaus), but it was also necessary to differentiate Falkinberg and Ungir
from another Mikołaj, Bochner, who signed his half-groschen with the letter N. An
additional complication is the existence of a small series of half-groschen, probably
struck after 1407, also with the letter N. Who it was supposed to indicate - with
regard to this series, we simply do not know.33
We have somewhat more trouble explaining why the letter W appears on half-
groschen with the Two-Barred Cross and not the letter U (V) for Ungir. But even this
can be explained in some way. The surname “Vngir” is an example of a toponymic
surname; here, “Vngir” indicates a person from Hungary. The Polish equivalent of
the surname “Vngir” is “Węgier”, or rather “Węgrzyn”.34 The surname Węgrzyn
appears in the sources in 1390 (Węgier Wanger already in 1360) as Wogrzin or
the more popular Wangrzin in 1398.
In his work, Zenon Piech noted that the process of “Jagiellonizing” the Eagle35
- which, anyway, as a symbol of the Piast dynasty, could not have been accepted
by the new ruler at once - took place already in the second half of Vladislaus
Jagiełło’s reign, which is evidenced by the significance of various non-monetary
sources - above all, seals.36 With regard to the half-groschen, this “Jagiellonization”
of the Eagle occurred, as mentioned above, when the royal name was added to it,
something that did not take place until the reign of Casimir Jagiellon. In his work,
however, Piech made use of Stanisława Kubiak’s attribution, and thus the theories
about the Wschowa mint and the issue of half-groschen without any symbols under
the crown after 1431, which led him to state that the significance of the Eagle
in the symbolism of Vladislaus Jagiello’s power had an ambiguous chronology.
Meanwhile, during the second half of Jagiello’s reign, half-groschen were not
struck; they ended with the coins with the letters F and W. Thus, an interpretation of
the iconography of non-monetary objects would be further confirmation of the thesis
about an early (1414)37 end to the issue of the half-groschen, which, after this period,
would not be struck until the reign of Casimir Jagiellon.

33 According to S. Pawlikowski (2018: 158), it indicated Mikołaj Follisfessil. But the only piece of evidence
in favor of this attribution is the first letter of his name (Niclos), and in the only source note (see KUBIAK 1970:
231) about him the names of a few other minters appear in a similar manner. Thus it is unclear why Follisfessil
would have put his initial on the half-groschen that were struck at that time.
34 TASZYCKI 1983: 50 (the entry Węgier), 50-51 (the entry Węgrzyn).
35 PIECH 2003: 121.
36 Ibidem: 121,206.
37 See also PAWLIKOWSKI 2018: passim.

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