DOI issue:
Artykuły/Articles
DOI article:A Seventeenth-Century Hoard of Coins Found at the Cementery near the Church Dedicated to St. Barbara in the Old Town of Częstochowa
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57341#0293
A seventeenth-century hoard of coins...
hoards from the 16th and 17th centuries. The inflow of petty German coinage was
greatest in the first quarter of the 17th century. At this point, they are recorded in
hoards from all over the Crown, and the percentage share of petty German coins
in deposits significantly increases. It should be noted that all of the German
coins found in the hoard from Częstochowa are associated with this period in
which petty German coins had the greatest inflow. The end of the inflow of petty
German coins into the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is associated
with the reform of the monetary system in the Empire and the introduction by
Emperor Ferdinand II (1619-1637) in 1623 of a new minting standard. The inflow
came to a standstill, but the German coins that were already in the Polish market
remained in circulation. They are recorded in hoards hidden in the second quarter of
the 17th century in lands all over Poland, especially in hoards hidden after 1627
when the striking of petty coins was halted.41
The inflow of petty German coins into the lands of the Crown was related to
economic changes that were occurring in Europe. The beginning of the 17th century
brought a price revolution (called “universal debasement”) and a resulting monetary
crisis. In the German Empire, it began in about the middle of the 16th century and
continued to gain strength, such that by the first decade of the 17th century it had
taken on a catastrophic form. The mass withdrawal of good coins from circulation
and the fact that they were re-minted into worse coins, ones of lower value, led
to the economic enfeeblement of the German countries. This period of minting
confusion is usually called “Kipper und Wipperzeit’ ’ - a period of monetary (minting)
deceit. This was a time of inflation that turned into hyperinflation.42 This crisis
affected most European states, not only those that remained under the influence of
the Empire. It also had a negative effect on monetary relations in the Polish state,
where a lack of native coins began to be felt, especially that of Crown one-and-
a-half groschen, which were highly valued abroad and began to disappear from
the Polish market. Tn their place, there was an inflow of petty foreign coinage of
lesser quality (legalized in 1598). The worsening economic situation additionally
accelerated the inflow into Poland of numerous counterfeit and imitation coins; it
also resulted in a lowering of the standard of coins, which meant that chaos began
to reign in the Polish state as well. As a result, a constitution passed by the Sejm
on March 13, 1601, ordered the closing of all crown mints. Only the Krakow mint
remained in operation.43 Already in 1604, a Warsaw Sejm commission passed
41 MIKOŁAJCZYK 1974: 239-240, 242-244.
42 KAŁKOWSKI 1957: 71-75; ŻABIŃSKI 1976: 1-3; IDEM 1989: 50; MIKOŁAJCZYK 1980: 14-15;
PASZKIEWICZ 2012: 97.
43 Ibidem'. 97.
291
hoards from the 16th and 17th centuries. The inflow of petty German coinage was
greatest in the first quarter of the 17th century. At this point, they are recorded in
hoards from all over the Crown, and the percentage share of petty German coins
in deposits significantly increases. It should be noted that all of the German
coins found in the hoard from Częstochowa are associated with this period in
which petty German coins had the greatest inflow. The end of the inflow of petty
German coins into the lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is associated
with the reform of the monetary system in the Empire and the introduction by
Emperor Ferdinand II (1619-1637) in 1623 of a new minting standard. The inflow
came to a standstill, but the German coins that were already in the Polish market
remained in circulation. They are recorded in hoards hidden in the second quarter of
the 17th century in lands all over Poland, especially in hoards hidden after 1627
when the striking of petty coins was halted.41
The inflow of petty German coins into the lands of the Crown was related to
economic changes that were occurring in Europe. The beginning of the 17th century
brought a price revolution (called “universal debasement”) and a resulting monetary
crisis. In the German Empire, it began in about the middle of the 16th century and
continued to gain strength, such that by the first decade of the 17th century it had
taken on a catastrophic form. The mass withdrawal of good coins from circulation
and the fact that they were re-minted into worse coins, ones of lower value, led
to the economic enfeeblement of the German countries. This period of minting
confusion is usually called “Kipper und Wipperzeit’ ’ - a period of monetary (minting)
deceit. This was a time of inflation that turned into hyperinflation.42 This crisis
affected most European states, not only those that remained under the influence of
the Empire. It also had a negative effect on monetary relations in the Polish state,
where a lack of native coins began to be felt, especially that of Crown one-and-
a-half groschen, which were highly valued abroad and began to disappear from
the Polish market. Tn their place, there was an inflow of petty foreign coinage of
lesser quality (legalized in 1598). The worsening economic situation additionally
accelerated the inflow into Poland of numerous counterfeit and imitation coins; it
also resulted in a lowering of the standard of coins, which meant that chaos began
to reign in the Polish state as well. As a result, a constitution passed by the Sejm
on March 13, 1601, ordered the closing of all crown mints. Only the Krakow mint
remained in operation.43 Already in 1604, a Warsaw Sejm commission passed
41 MIKOŁAJCZYK 1974: 239-240, 242-244.
42 KAŁKOWSKI 1957: 71-75; ŻABIŃSKI 1976: 1-3; IDEM 1989: 50; MIKOŁAJCZYK 1980: 14-15;
PASZKIEWICZ 2012: 97.
43 Ibidem'. 97.
291