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Artykuły/Articles
DOI Artikel:A Seventeenth-Century Hoard of Coins Found at the Cementery near the Church Dedicated to St. Barbara in the Old Town of Częstochowa
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57341#0292
ANNA BOCHNAK. IWONA MŁODKOWSKA-PRZEPIÓROWSKA
290
In the deposit under discussion here, we also have a coin from the Bishopric of
Kamień in Pomerania. A groschen - also called a Crown one-and-a-half groschen -
of Francis I of Pomerania (1602-1618) from 1617, it was struck in the mint in
Koszalin. Coins from Western Pomerania circulated in the lands of the Polish-
Lithuanian Commonwealth in small numbers and were used until the beginning of
the second quarter of the 17th century; they are also only rarely recorded in hoards.38
A similar coin was found in a hoard from Lublin.39
The deposit also includes two 3 Kreuzer coins from the Swiss canton of
Schaffhausen.40 Because these coins are worn out to a high degree, it is difficult to
give them an exact date. This type of coin was struck in the mint in Schaffhausen
between 1551 and 1611. It is estimated that they were produced in the greatest
numbers between 1596 and 1599.
Two counterfeit coins were also identified. The first is a Crown one-and-a-half
groschen of Sigismund III Vasa (1587-1632). The coin is in poor condition; only
fragments of it survive and there is no date. It was made using brass. The second
coin is an unspecified German 3 Kreuzer coin; struck in copper and blanched, it has
no date of issue.
The 3 Kreuzer coin ofFerdinand I (1521-1564) is the oldest coins in the hoard;
from 1547, it was struck in the Vienna mint. The latest issues in the hoard are
the 3 Kreuzer coins from 1618. These are coins of Johann Georg (1606-1621),
from the Duchy of Kmov and struck in the Kmov mint, and of John Christian and
George Rudolf (1602-1621), from the Duchy of Liegnitz-Brieg and struck in the Zloty
Stok mint. It should, however, be mentioned here that in the deposit under discussion
there is a 3 Kreuzer coin from the Palatine Zweibrücken with no date of issue; it is
a coin that belongs to a type that was issued by John II Wittelsbach (1587-1635)
between 1612 and 1619. As a result, the terminus post quern of the deposit of the hoard
is 1619. We can thus assume that the hoard was most likely hidden at the beginning
of the Thirty Years’ War. The chronological range of the hoard is 72 years; in addition,
the vast majority of the coins come from issues between 1600 and 1619.
As demonstrated by A. Mikołajczyk, the share of German coins is initially small
when it comes to hoards from Polish lands dated to the second half of the 16th century;
this indirectly indicates that only a small number of these coins were initially in
circulation, mostly in lands along the border, only to increase gradually over time.
As already mentioned, an increased share of German coins is recorded in a few
38 PAWŁOWSKI 2018: 9-10.
39 MARKIEWICZ 2015: 65, 86 - a hoard from Lublin (photo 42).
40 MĘCLEWSKA and MIKOŁAJCZYK 1983: 96, no. 319-Żarki (after 1616); 110, no. 378-Mokra Lewa
(after 1622 or 1629); MARKIEWICZ 2015: 93 - a hoard from Lublin (photo 97).
290
In the deposit under discussion here, we also have a coin from the Bishopric of
Kamień in Pomerania. A groschen - also called a Crown one-and-a-half groschen -
of Francis I of Pomerania (1602-1618) from 1617, it was struck in the mint in
Koszalin. Coins from Western Pomerania circulated in the lands of the Polish-
Lithuanian Commonwealth in small numbers and were used until the beginning of
the second quarter of the 17th century; they are also only rarely recorded in hoards.38
A similar coin was found in a hoard from Lublin.39
The deposit also includes two 3 Kreuzer coins from the Swiss canton of
Schaffhausen.40 Because these coins are worn out to a high degree, it is difficult to
give them an exact date. This type of coin was struck in the mint in Schaffhausen
between 1551 and 1611. It is estimated that they were produced in the greatest
numbers between 1596 and 1599.
Two counterfeit coins were also identified. The first is a Crown one-and-a-half
groschen of Sigismund III Vasa (1587-1632). The coin is in poor condition; only
fragments of it survive and there is no date. It was made using brass. The second
coin is an unspecified German 3 Kreuzer coin; struck in copper and blanched, it has
no date of issue.
The 3 Kreuzer coin ofFerdinand I (1521-1564) is the oldest coins in the hoard;
from 1547, it was struck in the Vienna mint. The latest issues in the hoard are
the 3 Kreuzer coins from 1618. These are coins of Johann Georg (1606-1621),
from the Duchy of Kmov and struck in the Kmov mint, and of John Christian and
George Rudolf (1602-1621), from the Duchy of Liegnitz-Brieg and struck in the Zloty
Stok mint. It should, however, be mentioned here that in the deposit under discussion
there is a 3 Kreuzer coin from the Palatine Zweibrücken with no date of issue; it is
a coin that belongs to a type that was issued by John II Wittelsbach (1587-1635)
between 1612 and 1619. As a result, the terminus post quern of the deposit of the hoard
is 1619. We can thus assume that the hoard was most likely hidden at the beginning
of the Thirty Years’ War. The chronological range of the hoard is 72 years; in addition,
the vast majority of the coins come from issues between 1600 and 1619.
As demonstrated by A. Mikołajczyk, the share of German coins is initially small
when it comes to hoards from Polish lands dated to the second half of the 16th century;
this indirectly indicates that only a small number of these coins were initially in
circulation, mostly in lands along the border, only to increase gradually over time.
As already mentioned, an increased share of German coins is recorded in a few
38 PAWŁOWSKI 2018: 9-10.
39 MARKIEWICZ 2015: 65, 86 - a hoard from Lublin (photo 42).
40 MĘCLEWSKA and MIKOŁAJCZYK 1983: 96, no. 319-Żarki (after 1616); 110, no. 378-Mokra Lewa
(after 1622 or 1629); MARKIEWICZ 2015: 93 - a hoard from Lublin (photo 97).