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Abstract

The article is concerned with the finds of four bronze coins of Bithynia unearthed in the territory of the present-day state of Belarus: a coin of Hadrian from Rehispolle (Minsk Voblasts), which belongs to the so-called coins of the Koinon of Bithynia, and coins with the images of Julia Domna (Kopcevichy, Vitebsk Voblasts), Macrinus (Yuzafovа, Vitebsk Voblasts), and Gordian III (Pruzhany, Brest Voblasts), all issued by the mint at Nicaea. The authors argue that the coins may have reached Belarus from the Danubian provinces as well as directly from Nicaea (present-day İznik in Turkey), i.e., from those locations or territories where their participation in monetary circulation was the greatest. It is most likely that those coins may have been seized by the Barbarians during their incursions into the Roman provinces in the course of the Gothic Wars (3rd century CE).
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Authors and Affiliations

Kyrylo Myzgin
1
ORCID: ORCID
Vital Sidarovich
2
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Uniwersytet Warszawski, Wydział Historii, 00–927 Warszawa, ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28
  2. Białoruski Uniwersytet Państwowy, Wydział Historyczny, 220030 Mińsk, Białoruś, ul. Krasnoarmeyskaja 6
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Abstract

The article presents the interpretation of a coin found in the Kuyavian region, Central Poland a few years ago. According to the most plausible hypothesis, it is a cast barbarian copy of a barbarian imitation of a Roman denarius. In other words, the barbarians most likely made (by casting) a copy of an imitation previously made (presumably struck) by other barbarians using a Roman original as a model. Numerous barbarian copies and barbarian imitations of Roman denarii have been recorded in recent years. However, the author of the presented article is not aware of any cast copies of imitations, therefore, taking into account the current state of research, the artefact described in the article should be considered unique.
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Authors and Affiliations

Arkadiusz Dymowski
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. University of Warsaw Faculty of Archaeology
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Abstract

ABSTRACT:

The article is an attempt at an analysis of the information contained in Ludwig von Baczko’s article, titled Von einigen in Preussen gefundenen römischen Münzen. The text was published in 1780, in the periodical “Das preussische Tempe” in Königsberg. The information from the publication was used only by Sture Bolin in his catalogue of the finds of Roman coins (Bolin 1926). The “Das preussische Tempe” was practically lost and its only copy remained in the National Library in Moscow.

SUMMARY:

In the article Von einigen in Preussen gefundenen römischen Münzen authored by Ludwig Franz Adolf Josef von Baczko, published in the “Das preussische Tempe” in 1780 some information on the finds of antique coins was published. The author mentioned two Roman coins of Augustus and Tiberius for Livia found in the Elbląg area. The information does not allow any conclusion on whether the find was authentic and the Elbląg area was indeed the place of the discovery of two “bronze” Roman coins, one of which had the image of Justitia or Pietas on its obverse. The subsequent finds, mentioned by von Baczko, came from the areas of Klaipėda (German: Memel), Zheleznodorozhny (German: Gerdaunen), Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia), Krylowo (German: Nordenburg), Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia) and Tilsit, today Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia). He identified Philip the Arab as the issuer. Von Baczko provided some more questionable information concerning 83 silver coins which “had been brought from those areas to Königsberg by a Polish Jew in 1774”. The Polish Jew suggested that the coins could be easily found in Samogitia, not far from the Prussian border, in remains of an old building. Von Baczko decided that the information was incomplete as it pointed only to the existence of the foundations of an old, stone building. All the information about the 83 coins presented above bring to mind the typical accounts of coin traders of the time.

Von Baczko informed also that “he was shown a few more coins” which had been discovered, as he was said “zu Höle bei Danzig”, so in today’s Gdańsk Ujeścisko. They were silver Vespasian’s coins with images of “various Judean sacrificial vessels” on reverses, there was also a coin with the representation of a “veiled woman” and the legend IVDEA CAPTA. The information about the find appeared in all catalogues of the Roman coins found on the Polish territory. The discovery was described as a hoard consisting of an unknown number of pennies from the period between Vespasian and Septimius Severus or Caracalla (the coin struck for Julia Domna). Sture Bolin repeated the information faithfully after von Baczko, so the discovery of the 1780 “Das preussische Tempe” does not contribute much to the matter in question. The only novelty is that von Baczko questioned the find’s authenticity, supporting his opinion with a vague remark about “das zu wenig erhobene Gepräge”, which implied that he considered the coins to be contemporary products.

Further in his article, von Baczko deliberates on how the coins had got to Prussia. He refers to some unspecified writers (“verschiedene Schriftsteller”) who suspected the presence of Romans by the Baltic Sea but emphasises that he does not know any written record by a Roman historian which would confirm the Roman presence so far away from the Empire’s borders. Von Baczko then suggests that the coins may have come as loot. He observed that Old Prussians had had the custom of leaving spoils taken from their enemies in the urns of their heroes. He argued that after the urns were destroyed by time, the coins that remained came to the surface as a result of land cultivation.

Having been long searched for, when eventually found von Baczko’s article turned out not to be particularly useful in interpreting the records concerning the coins. The lack of results is, however, also a result. There are a lot of laconic and arbitrary descriptions of coins which did not help to identify particular specimens. Based on the article, we may assume that he saw the coins and identified and described them himself. The legends he quotes are usually incorrect, but they did appear on Roman coins, so he did not invent them completely. He knew what could be found on Roman coins. It is also evident that he had a considerable knowledge of ancient Rome for his times.

While comparing von Baczko’s article with similar contemporary texts one may arrive at the conclusion that it is a typical product of Prussian scholars of the time, such as A. Grübnau, M. Praetorius, C.B. Lengnich. The coins were described selectively, only those specimens that for some reason attracted the attention of the authors mentioned above. The descriptions are incomplete, what is more, the described obverses do not match the reverses. Based on von Baczko’s article, one may conclude that he wrote about what he could discern on the coin. There is much to make us believe that having read the obverse legend on one coin, he coupled it with the reverse of another coin, while a third one provided the image. Such an approach was certainly adopted in the case of the solidi from the Mrzezin hoard. The author, who signed himself with an “X” described the obverse of Anastasius I’s solidus and the reverse of the Ostrogoth imitation of the same type of coin.

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Authors and Affiliations

Renata Ciołek
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Abstract

The author reflects on the evaluation of the notion of money in history. In many situations coins and banknotes were a proof for the existence of local, independent, political power. People’s attitude toward money was quite an important matter, too; in many situations neither money nor those professionally dealing with money were appreciated socially. Numerous utopian movements disliked money. Communism was one of them. The communist economy was driven — at least in theory — by overwhelming planning rather than by the incentive of money. After the fall of communism a question arised whether all or nearly all public activity should be driven by money or whether some domains of social activity should rather be kept as public domains.

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Authors and Affiliations

Marcin Kula
ORCID: ORCID
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Abstract

In the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw there are four small sets, originating from the eastern lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They had belonged to the collection of Józef Choynowski and, as a deposit of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, in 1923 became a part of the Museum’s collection. They represent quite a wide time horizon, dated from the beginning of the 16th century to the half of the 17th century. Their compositions are similar to deposits from the same period, and size allow to determine them as content of purses. The older hoards are homogeneous in nature, while the later ones are more varied, including, among others, many counterfeit coins. The circumstances of their deposition are unknown.
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Authors and Affiliations

Andrzej Romanowski
1
ORCID: ORCID
Iwona Adaszewska
1
Raman Krytsuk
2

  1. Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, Gabinet Monet i Medali, Al. Jerozolimskie 3, 00-495 Warszawa
  2. Narodowe Muzeum Historyczne Republiki Białoruś, Dział Archeologii, Numizmatyki i Broni (National Historical Museum of The Republic of Belarus, Department of Archaeology, Coins and Weapons)
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Abstract

The assemblage of coins found in the Old Town district of Lublin (6a, Wincentego Pola St., presently known as Archidiakońska St.) on 1 July 1981 consists of 21 false groschen of Sigismund III Vasa (1587–1632) and 2 fragments of unspecified coins. As a result of the research analysis, it has been found that the coins were minted in tin-coated copper. Despite the fact that the dates are decipherable only on 10 groschen coins, it may be inferred from the identity of the coin dies that 15 of them (71.4%) bear the year 1608, while 5 (23.8%) – 1607. No date has been determined for only one coin. The groschen of 1607, struck with the use of one pair of coin dies, imitate the bust / eagle type. This particular variation tends to prevail also among the pieces with the date 1608 (13 out of a total number of 15 pieces), which had been coined with the use of two pairs of dies. 1 groschen with a bust and 2 groschen with a crown image had been struck by means of some other coin dies. The fact that the forged coins were found at the site of the former townhouse owned by the mayor Jan Szembek (since 1608) allows us to presume that they may have been deposited there as a result of some administrative action taken against the illegal practice. Beginning from the early decades of the 17th century, conditions for the growth of such practices had been created and fuelled by the atmosphere of the increasing economic crisis and the resulting perturbations spreading across the monetary markets of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
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Authors and Affiliations

Miłosz Huber
1
ORCID: ORCID
Tomasz Markiewicz
2
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Katedra Geologii, Gleboznawstwa i Geoinformacji UMCS, Al. Kraśnickie 2cd 20-718 Lublin
  2. Muzeum Narodowe w Lublinie, ul. Zamkowa 9, 20–117 Lublin
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Abstract

The text is an analysis of two hoards of copper shillings (szeląg) of John Casimir Vasa (1648–1668) dating from the years 1659–1666, found in one of the arable fields at Rokitno (Lubartów County) in 1981 and 2011. The first one is made up entirely of 3,530 copper shillings (so called boratynka in singular), while in the other one, with 10,218 pieces, the same coin type accounts for 99.9%. The structures of these two hoards from Rokitno correspond with some other representative deposits of the same coin type from the localities such as Idźki-Wykno, Przasnysz, Terespol. This particular structure refers, among other things, to percentage shares of the Polish Crown and Lithuanian shillings as well as to how the individual mints and years of issue are represented in these types. The hoard unearthed in 1981 was deposited most probably in the early fourth quarter of the 17th century, whereas the one found in 2011 – shortly after 1695.
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Authors and Affiliations

Tomasz Markiewicz
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Muzeum Narodowe w Lublinie, ul. Zamkowa 9, 20–117 Lublin
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Abstract

The article is focused on a presentation of 16 silver calyxes owned by Mr. Piotr Maciej Przypkowski. These objects are adorned with various coins: ancient Roman (4), medieval (3), and modern (9). In addition to the coins, each vessel has Latin (12) and Polish (4) maxims as well as alchemic and astrological symbols under its rim. This is very likely the latest, attested in numismatic literature, example of historical coins being reused as decorative elements of vessels.
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Authors and Affiliations

Grzegorz Śnieżko
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii PAN, Al. Solidarności 105, 00–140 Warszawa
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Abstract

The text concerns the production of coins in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto (a Jewish ghetto established in the Polish city of Łódź by the German Nazi authorities). In 2019, the author contacted Mordechai Brown, who participated in the production as a 14-year-old boy. The present article has been based on his personal account. In addition, the results of the XRF analyses of the Łódź Ghetto coins have been presented.
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Authors and Affiliations

Michał M. Zagórowski
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Abstract

According to the finds, Polish and Western European coins reached western Ukraine in two stages: in the 10th / 11th century and in the first half of the 12th century. Some of these coins (but usually without Polish ones) were transported further east, to the vicinity of Kiev. On the other hand, Western European coins flowed into the territories of Northern Rus’ from the north. This text is based on data contained both in the literature (including recent one) and information not yet published, kindly provided by researchers from Ukraine (A. Kryzhanivskiy) and from the Czech Republic (J. Videman).
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Authors and Affiliations

Stanisław Suchodolski
1

  1. Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii PAN, Al. Solidarności 105, 00-140 Warszawa
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Abstract

The article describes the finds of six Roman coins and a mysterious object with an Arabic legend discovered in the years 2000–2014 at the bottom of Lake Turawskie, created in 1939. With the creation of the reservoir many archaeological sites (of varied chronology, from the Roman period to the late Middle Ages) were flooded, many of which could not be properly investigated due to the time pressure. The Roman coins presented here are a standard part in the overall image of coins discovered in Silesia. The mysterious object with an Arabic legend is unique, it has partial analogies in Norman weights or early-Arab coins (al-wafā lillāh coinage).
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Authors and Affiliations

Dragan Milutinović
ORCID: ORCID
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Abstract

This article discusses the discovery of a hoard of gold coins in Zalewo (formerly Saalfeld). The duke of Prussia, Albrecht Frederick, was informed about the discovery by the Hauptmann of Przezmark ( Preussisch Mark), who sent him 144 coins in 1572. The Hauptmann also described the process of how the coins were obtained. These coins were described by the archivist at the dukes‘s court as florentinische Guldtgulden – which means ”florentine gold florins“. The authors claim, that this is the first described discovery of gold florins from Zalewo. A similar discovery was recorded in Zalewo in 1991. The coins sent in 1572 possibly became a part of the collection of the Duke of Prussia. Some of the gold florins found in 1991 were donated to the Museum of Warmia and Mazury.
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Authors and Affiliations

Seweryn Szczepański
1
ORCID: ORCID
Kazimierz Madela
2

  1. Instytut Północny im. Wojciecha Kętrzyńskiego w Olsztynie, ul. Partyzantów 87, 10-402 Olsztyn
  2. Jerzwałd 77, 14-230 Zalewo
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Abstract

The hoard from Krzczonów (Opatowiec community, kazimierski district) was discovered in 2002 during construction works on a private property. The entire deposit consists of 5,264 coins – Polish, Bohemian, Silesian, Pomeranian and Hungarian. The article presents 137 coins from the Krzczonów hoard – 128 Prague groschen of Wenceslas IV and nine hellers of Henry I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels from the Kłodzko county. This small fragment of this hoard shows its scientific value and research perspectives. The very interesting results of the study of only a few percent of the entire find – inter alia the identification of the posthumous Prague groschen of Wenceslas IV – give high hopes that after the entire deposit has been processed, we will do much more about the monetary circulation in the late 15th century between Krakow and Kielce area.
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Authors and Affiliations

Marta Kazanowicz-Milejska
1
Paweł Milejski
1
ORCID: ORCID

  1. Instytut Archeologii, Uniwersytet Wrocławski, ul. Szewska 48, 50-139 Wrocław
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Abstract

Amongst the early variations of the so-called Otto-Adelheid-pennies are coins with five pellets within the church. They exist in two varieties in respect of the distribution of the four letters ODDO in the cross angles. It can be shown that both are from the same unlocalised mint. The number of dies is rather small and that the variety with O-O-D-D precedes O-D-D-O. Issuing must have started soon after 983/984 and probably was ended before c. 993.
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Authors and Affiliations

Peter Ilisch
1

  1. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
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Abstract

Amongst the first imported silver coins from western Europe in hoards in the territories of the western Slavs after the decline of silver import from Central Asia are issues anonymous in both respect of ruler and mint which have been in discussion since the early nineteenth century. In research they have been called by various names such as Sachsenpfennige, Hochrandpfennige, Kreuzpfennige (German) or krzyżówki (Polish) and must originate from mint(s) in Eastern Saxony bordering Slavs. They are of importance for the understanding of the use and chronology of coined silver in Slavic lands, especially in Poland and eastern Germany. The example of the Strandby hoard in Denmark, where these occur in a larger number, are well documented and to a larger part are unfragmented, allows us to show that the hitherto used dating (Kilger 2000) is incorrect. All known varieties must have been struck before 983/984 and not up to c. 1000. There is no continuation to younger series with hammered edge appearing since early eleventh century.
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Authors and Affiliations

Peter Ilisch
1

  1. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
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Abstract

ABSTRACT:

The text discusses medieval and modern sepulchral finds of coins from Eastern Europe, conventionally referred to as the “obol of the dead”. For the first time the phenomenon was observed in 8th century graves of nomads in the Khazar Khaganate. In the 9th and 10th century, Arab dirhams and Byzantine miliarenses appear in graves in the areas of the Scandinavian expansion, mainly in the basin of the upper Volga and the Dnieper. In the 11th century the custom of equipping the dead with coins becomes common and it is mainly West European pennies that are used for the purpose. In the 12th and 13th century, the practice becomes virtually obsolete to experience a revival in the 15th century. In modern times the observance of the custom reaches its peak in the 17th century and remains to be recorded in ethnographic sources until today.

SUMMARY:

The text presents the custom of equipping the dead with coins, followed in medieval and modern Eastern Europe.

In this area coins appear for the first time in richly equipped graves of nomads, dated to the 8th century, along the lower course of the Don and Volga rivers in the Khazar Khaganate. They are predominantly gold issues — Byzantine solidi and gold-plated dirhams, placed in the mouth of the dead.

In the 9th and 10th centuries coins and their fragments, which can be referred to as “the obol of the dead”, occur in the barrow mounds in the north-west areas of ancient Rus’, on the east and south coast of Ladoga Lake, in the interfluve of the Volga and the Oka as well as in sites located along the upper and middle course of the Dnieper, particularly in the Czernichow Land. In the second part of the 10th and 11th century the custom becomes widespread, and most of the finds come from inhumation burial. Apart from those areas, coins appear in graveyards located along the upper course of the Volga River, in the areas of Lake Peipus and Lake Ilmen as well as in the basin of the Dnieper and further down to Kiev. Characteristically enough, all the sites are located in the area of the Scandinavian expansion and colonisation.

The predominant types of coins found in graves dated to the 10th century are Arab dirhams as well as Byzantine folles, miliarenses and solidi. It should also be noted that graves with pendant-coins become more frequent. At the end of the 10th century there is an observable decrease in the inflow of Arab gold into the Baltic region. At the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century, coins from Western Europe appear and dominate the entire next century. They are usually German issues, but also English and, to a smaller extent, Bohemian and Hungarian coins. Interestingly enough, the number of coins left in the form of “the obol of the dead” is much higher than that of pendant-coins. Sometimes the local, Rus’ coins occur, although rather infrequently.

In the 12th and 13th century the custom of equipping the dead with coins disappears completely from the forest zone of Eastern Europe, which is caused by the cessation of the inflow of Western European coins into Novgorod Rus’ and predominantly, by the evolution of burial practices, manifesting itself in abandoning the custom of equipping the dead. In the 13th and 14th century, after the Mongol invasions, coins reappear in the graves of the nomads of the Golden Horde, who bring the custom from the grasslands of Central Asia. The finds are dominated by Golden Horde issues.

In the 14th century, coins are occasionally used in the burials of Lithuanian and Slavic population in the Polish-Rus’ and Lithuanian-Rus’ border areas (today’s Eastern Poland and Grodno Region). In the latter case, the finds of coins are particularly frequent in graves from the 15th century. Similarly to the 11th century Rus’ this is an area of intensive Christianisation and transformations of burial practices. Outside the Grodno Region, the coins appear frequently in graves across Lithuania, Samogitia, Semigallia, Latgale, Livonia and Courland. In the 16th century, coins start to appear in graves of newly Christianised Finno-Ugric peoples of Mari, Mordva and Udmurt. They appear both as the “obols of the dead” and pendants in lavishly decorated necklaces and hats.

The culmination of the practice of equipping the death with coins falls on the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. The areas of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and of the Grand Duchy of Moscow are dominated by local issues, mostly small coins of low nominal value.

In archaeological sources, there is a rapid decrease in the number of sepulchral finds of coins in graves from the second half of the 18th century. We know of only one burial with coins from the 19th century. Similarly, coins were discovered only in one 20th-century grave, which does not, however, signify that the practice of equipping the dead disappeared — it only reflects the current state of examination of contemporary archaeological sites. Ethnographic sources frequently record the tradition of equipping the death and confirm the presence of such practices in the areas of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland.

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Authors and Affiliations

Łukasz Miechowicz
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Abstract

ABSTRACT:

The work is devoted to Polish pennies from the end of the 12th century and the beginning of the 13th century with the image of a bishop with a long cross staff and a knight fighting a lion which occurred in the Głogów II hoard in a significant number. So far the pennies have been classified as the issues of the Silesian duke, Boleslaus I the Tall. The author demonstrates that the coins (Str. 46) present the Archbishop of Gniezno, Henryk Kietlicz (1199–1219) and may have been struck from the spring of 1207 till the end of 1211, probably in the mint of the Silesian duke, Henry the Bearded, in Głogów.

SUMMARY:

Among the two most numerous denar types in the Głogów hoard (1987) there was a denar with a depiction of a bishop with a long cross staff on the obverse and a knight fighting a lion on the reverse (Stronczyński type 46, MA-H in Głogów, at least 5015 specimens. Figs. 1 a, b). This type of denar, previously known only from two nineteenthcentury hoards and several specimens, constitutes about one-fourth of the entire Głogów (1987) hoard. Suchodolski ascribed it to Boleslaw the Tall, duke of Silesia, ruling in the years 1173 to 1185/1190. According to Suchodolski’s interpretation, this type refers to the heritage of the Silesian dukes’ father and the mint of Wrocław, while the letters SA and the figure on the coin should be associated with St Adalbert.

I will try to show that this type of coins presents the Archbishop of Gniezno, Henry Kietlicz (1199–1219) and the denars may have been minted from the spring of 1207 to the end of 1211, probably in Duke Henry I the Bearded of Silesia’s mint in Głogów (if it existed at that time), Legnica or Wrocław.

The church and political activity of Archbishop Henry Kietlicz, his reforming and political initiatives as the leader of the younger dukes faction in the first decade of the 13th century were aimed at winning the independence of the Polish Church from secular power and even securing its domination.

In 1206, a serious conflict broke out between the political party of Vladislas the Spindleshank and the coalition of Leszek the White, Vladislas Odonic and Archbishop Henry Kietlicz. The archbishop’s aim was to increase the importance of the Church in the state and among secular powers. He wanted to transfer the right to elect bishops to cathedral chapters, subordinate Church officials solely to diocesan authorities and guarantee the Church the right to inherit after deceased clergymen. He was also interested in making the ecclesiastical judiciary independent of state authority. In return, the archbishop promised to acknowledge Leszek as the ruler of Cracow after the latter had committed a coup d’état. However, the aims of the ecclesiastical reform clashed with the traditional ius ducale system, executed by the faction of Vladislas Spindleshanks.

Vladislas Spindleshanks, being at the time the duke of Greater Poland, entered Gniezno, the then archbishop’s see, seized the cathedral treasury and confiscated the land estates of the archbishop and his supporters, whom he later locked up in the cathedral, turning it into a prison. By doing so, he has bereft the bishop of his funds and prevented him from taking any further actions. Kietlicz, who was effectively banished from Gniezno, headed to Silesia to get financial support from Duke Henry the Bearded, and later went to Rome, as the head of the “juniors” party delegation.

Between 4 and 13 January 1207, the papal chancery issued 27 documents concerning Poland. This proves the great engagement of Pope Innocent III in Polish matters and particularly in the ecclesiastical reforms implemented by Archbishop Kietlicz. The Pope granted the Archbishop decisive support, both in the church-political dispute with Vladislas Spindleshanks and in the conducted reform. This helped to consolidate the archbishop’s faction.

Some of the issued documents concerned financial matters, such as the collection of Peter’s Pence and the tithe, which were of interest not so much to Kietlicz but to the Holy See. In the bulla dated 5 January and addressed to the Polish dukes, the Pope indicated the fraud that the addressees of the document had committed. This is the very document that contains the words known so well to Polish numismatists: moneta per annum apud vos tertio renovetur, referring to the fact that the tributes paid to the Pope at the end of the year were paid with a coin that had undergone three recoinages, thus of lower value.

From that point, instead of the duke it was the Archbishop of Gniezno who was given the responsibility to oversee the quality of the inflows of fees for the Holy See, as well as the tithe in Poland.

In another bulla, the Pope appealed to the Polish bishops and clergy, urging them to give the Archbishop the greatest possible help and financial support. Kietlicz, who had been expelled and deprived of any church-related income, was forced to cover all his expenses from his hereditary assets and to borrow money. His debts must have been high, since the Pope, in a separate document, granted their repayment. They had been incurred not only to cover the costs of the mission to Rome but mainly to finance the military efforts of Vladislas Odonic. It is believed that the loan was given by Henry the Bearded, against the deposit of Kietlicz’s family estate in Silesia.

A papal document from the 12 January 1207 was of special importance for Archbishop Henry Kietlicz. It was addressed directly to him and granted him the right to use the processional cross staff (crux gestatoria). This honour, usually given to the papal legates81, raised the authority and prestige as well as was considered a clear sign of the Pope’s support for the reforms. Such a figure of a bishop holding a processional cross is depicted on the obverse of the coins from the Głogów treasury (Fig. 1 a, b). None of the Polish priests of this age, other than the Archbishop of Gniezno, Henry Kietlicz, could and had the right to be presented this way.

No later than in the summer of 1207, Kietlicz in collaboration with Henry the Bearded, supported his candidate Lawrence in the election for the position of Bishop of Wrocław. He stayed in Głogów, from where he could effectively oversee Vladislas Odonic’s actions in his fight against Spindleshank as well as the church-related matters. He possibly received the permit from Henry the Bearded to produce denars from the silver collected by his subordinate clergy, which were partially directed to Henry’s treasury to repay the debt. The production of these coins could have taken place in the mint in Głogów or Legnica, even though Wroclaw cannot be excluded as a possibility. The production started in the middle of 1207 and lasted until 1211 — that is until the final resolution of the conflict was eventually achieved during the assembly in Borzykowa and the arrival of the Pope’s legates who came to solve the issue.

The presented denars with the bishop and the processional cross are the realization of this intention. The letters on the coin, accompanying the figure, reading S[anctvs] A[dalbertvs] mean that the Archbishop of Gniezno, although in exile, does not cease to be the shepherd of the whole Polish metropolis under the patronage of St Adalbert the Martyr. Fig. 8 depicts Kietlicz’s coins compared to other double-sided coins, minted at that time by Mieszko Tanglefoot and Henry the Bearded, pointing to their slightly higher value. Kietlicz had to ensure that the coin he introduced to the money market was of good quality and value, so that it could be accepted without reservation.

The Pope’s bulla from 1210 as well as the claim of Henry the Bearded resulting from his rights of primogeniture in the Silesian line reignited political unrest. The agreement was reached at the assembly in Borzykowa, at which Henry the Bearded renounced his rights to the Cracow throne in favor of the aged Duke of Racibórz-Opole, Mieszko Tanglefood, who died the following year. Archbishop Kietlicz returned to the Gniezno cathedral only after Leszek the White took over the Kraków throne after Mieszko’s death and after the papal judges arrived in mid-1211 to resolve the conflict that had been going on for five years. I am concluding that minting of coins for Kietlicz in the Silesian mint lasted at least until then.

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Strong arguments supporting the hypothesis that it is Archbishop Kietlicz who is depicted on the presented denars result from the discovery of his tomb in Tum near Łęczyca during archaeological research conducted there. At the remains of the clergyman who was buried there, a silver crucifix with a figure of Christ attached and a spike to be placed on a spar (Fig. 3) was found. Such a cross was used only by eminent priests, who received the right of the processional cross from the Pope as a reward for exceptional merits or by legates sent by the Pope to settle local conflicts. As mentioned, such a right was granted by Innocent III to Archbishop Henry Kietlicz in 1207, and only he could be buried in this tomb. A similar right, given to the Archbishops of Gniezno, was granted only at the Council in Constance debating in 1414–1418, together with the title of the Primate of Poland to Archbishop Nicholas Trąba.

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Authors and Affiliations

Witold Nakielski

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