The Mongol invasion of Europe in the early 1240’s were devastating for more countries in Central Europe, and triggered a great interest in the research of history and archaeology. The present study gives an overview of the course of events, the archaeological and historical research trends and ideas, and a detailed discussion on the archaeological source types connected to the Mongol invasion of Hungary in 1241–1242.

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.

The article describes early medieval (10th–11th c.) coins from the collection of the Ossolinski National Institute. There are about 400 coins from this period, originate from Poland and other countries. Part of them come from hoards or archaeological excavations carried out on settlements or grave fields, other coins come from the old collections of Ossolineum in Lviv, and some from donations or various purchases. In the Ossolineum there are fragments of six early medieval hoards, containing coins, silver ornaments and fragments of silver clumps.

The collections of the Grodno State Historical and Archaeological Museum include a hoard of denarii of the Roman Empire found near the village of Tsiapy in the Shchuchyn district of the Grodno region. The museum received 28 denarii from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the youngest of which dates back to 191–192. The Shchuchyn district and adjacent territories are known for the largest number of finds of Roman coins, including hoards, in the Grodno region. Numerous Roman and Eastern German imports recorded in this region allow us to hypothesize the penetration of the Goths into the right bank of the Neman River or their powerful influence on local Baltic population.

ABSTRACT:

Among the cross pennies of later types, contained in the hoard from Słuszków near Kalisz and dated to after 1105, there are 73 obols — coins worth half a penny. The coins from the Słuszków hoard are dated to the period from the second half of the 11th century to the beginning of the 12th century. The assemblage is dominated by specimens with the image of a beaded cross and individual coins featuring a simple cross, a crosier as well as a crosier, a ring and a banner — types V, VI, VII and VIII according to M. Gumowski’s typology. Most probably, all the obols were struck by bishop’s mints in the archdiocese of Magdeburg.

SUMMARY:

In the early Middle Ages, the smallest denomination of coins used across Latin Europe was the obol. The most frequent finds of the coin, dated to the second half of the 10th century and the beginning of the 11th century come mainly from Germany, Bohemia and Hungary. The high silver content of the pennies at the time necessitated the production of smaller denominations, used for concluding small trade transactions, particularly in the countries where the coins’ origin. In the Polish lands small transactions involved predominantly fragments of coins, which constituted the dominant part of the hoard material from the times of Mieszko I and Boleslaus I the Brave. The debasement of pennies throughout the 11th century resulted in both obols and coin fragments disappearing from hoards. Almost of all of the late cross pennies CNP 813 and 867–869 from the Słuszków hoard, dated to the end of the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th century were not divided. The coins produced for the longest period of time (until the beginning of the 12th century) discovered in the Polish lands were cross obols. The largest collection of the coins comes from the hoard discovered in Słuszków near Kalisz and dated to after 1105. The assemblage contains 13061 coins, mainly early variants of cross pennies from the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century.

Due to the lack of some types of cross obols in the most complete classification of the cross coins in Marian Gumowski’s Corpus Nummorum Poloniae, the typology based on the obols from the Słuszków hoard is presented.

The earliest variant, SoV-1, similar to CNP 674, has on its obverse the older version of the beaded cross (beads along the quadrangle). In all certainty, it is dated to before the half of the 11th century. Chronologically, the second type of obol in the Słuszków assemblage is the SoV-2 variant, not recorded in CNP. The artefact relates to a group of cross pennies from the so-called transitional group with a beaded cross, where some signs were arranged along the quadrangle and some along a circle. It may be dated to the half of the 11th century. The next five variants of cross obols, SoV-3 — SoV-7, are similar to CNP 677, their margins are wide enough for the legend to be legible. The obverse features the younger beaded cross, most often with 12 beads. The coins were minted in the third quarter of the 11th century. The next group of obols comprises variants SoV-8 — Sov-16, characterised by relatively narrow margins, which translates into only partial legibility of the characters. On the obverse there is the younger beaded cross. The obols may be dated back to the turn of the 4th quarter of the 11th century. The youngest group of cross obols from Słuszków are coins classified as variants SoV-17 — SoV-21. On the obverse they have a beaded cross with eight or nine beads. They may be dated to the last quarter of the 11th century. There are two more obols that may be identified as cross obols with beaded crosses, classified as variants SoVA-1 and SoVA-2. The specimens feature a beaded cross whose two arms are represented as prolonged triangles, similarly to the crossing of the crosier on the younger variants of type VII cross obols. In all probability, the coins may be dated to the turn of the 4th quarter of the 11th century. In the Słuszków hoard, the type VI cross obols with the simple cross are represented by one specimen of the SoVI-1 variant (CNP 876), dated probably to the last two decades of the 11th century.

The Słuszków hoard contains only one type VII obol — SoVII-1. The coin shows a short, crossed crosier, to the left, with a narrow crook, ending with a large dot. The coin may be dated to the last quarter of the 11th century. The last and probably the youngest group of obols comprises type VIII specimens of the SoVIII-1 type (CNP 1029). Obols of this type are known mostly from the Polabian region and can be dated to the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. In all certainty, all the cross obols from the Słuszków hoard were struck in Saxony, in mints of Magdeburg, Halle-Giebichenstein, Merseburg, Naumburg and perhaps Meissen, a fact confirmed by the artefacts discovered in Polabia. The large number of the coins known from Greater Poland — the region of Poland lying closest to Magdeburg, testifies to the Saxon origin of the cross obols from the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century.

The article deals with the penny coinage minted in Silesia in the latter half of the 12th century. According to the author, it is very likely that the Polish coinage of Silesia during the period of feudal fragmentation had originated under the rule of two Silesian Piast dukes, brothers Bolesław I the Tall and Mieszko IV Tanglefoot (in the period 1166–1172), responsible for several penny types issued up until the late 12th century and subjected to periodic recoinage. It is also possible that the first two types may have been minted by the Senior Duke Bolesław IV the Curly, although the author believes that this hypothesis is less plausible.

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.

This article deals with the issue of King John Casimir’s copper shillings struck in 1659–1666, emerging from the analysis of the structure of large shilling hoards in relation to the contents of mint reports. It was conducted on the basis of representative, newly-described finds from Idźki-Wykno and Rokitno, as well as previously published deposits, encompassing more than 59,000 coins. On this basis, the global production volume of shillings was estimated along with the share of individual mints. These values prompt a response to the accusations of mintage abuse levelled against Tytus Livius Boratini. However, another premise emerged from the initial analysis of false shillings that helps to date hoards of copper shillings.

ABSTRACT:

The main objective of the article is to organise our knowledge about the coinage of the last years of Boleslaus IV the Curly’s reing, based on the coins from the medieval Głogów hoard and the hoard from Dąbrowa Górnicza-Łosień. A very rare penny of the Stronczyński 54 type with the image of a rider on its obverse and the reverse with the name BOLЄZLAV/BOLЄZLVS, inscribed into three arches will be described in detail. The text will present the latest results of the study of the coin (including the traces of overstrikes), weight analysis and the types of dies and their combinations.

SUMMARY:

The article was created based on a paper of the same title, presented at the International Numismatic Conference, „Numismatica Centroeuropea III” in Bystrzyca Kłodzka. In the recent years, owing to the discovery of the Dąbrowa Górnicza-Łosień hoard, the studies on Boleslaus IV the Curly’s coinage have gained momentum. Its analysis provided an impulse for conducting similar studies on the ruler’s coins from the medieval Głogów hoard, discovered in 1987. Four types of pennies, occurring in small numbers, have been published so far and the time has come to publish the fifth penny, classified as type 54 according to Kazimierz Stronczyński. 220 pennies were analysed for the purpose of this article.

The initial objects of the analysis were the obverse and reverse images, categorised into variants and variations. Seven obverse and three reverse variants were distinguished. Additionally, within each variant a few to several variations, differing in small details, were also identified. Each variant has been described in a table. The coins were then examined in terms of their dies combination, and the results have been presented in the form of a diagram.

The next stage involved the comparison of the data obtained for the Str. 54 penny with that of its predecessors, published in the monograph of the Dąbrowa Górnicza-Łosień hoard. While comparing the weights, the data provided by Professor Suchodolski in his book “Mennictwo polskie w XI i XIII wieku/Polish coinage in the 11th and 12th century” was also referred to. The weights of all five types were presented in the form of a histogram. Another interpretation of the overstrikes, observed on coins from the medieval Głogów hoard, was also published. The Str. 54 penny opened a series of subsequently overstruck pennies. A hypothesis was proposed that some of the coins ascribed previously to Boleslaus IV the Curly might have been struck by Boleslaus I the Tall, son of Vladislaus II the Exile. The verification of the hypothesis requires further studies on the coins from the medieval Głogów hoard which participated in this unusual sequence of overstrikes. Unfortunately, there are still over several thousand of such coins to be examined. Finally, 17 type Str. 54 pennies discovered outside the medieval Głogów hoard were published. They come from the hoards from Anusin and Golice, single finds from Masłowice and Wilkowice and from private collections. The coins were examined in the same manner and included in the catalogue of die variants and varieties and the diagram of die combinations.

In the Middle Ages, tens of thousands types of uni-faced bracteate coins were struck in the period 1140−1520. The existence of hundreds of small independent currency areas with their own mints in central, eastern, and northern Europe and the strong link between bracteates and periodic re-coinage explain the large number of bracteate types. The classification and dating of coins can provide insight into economic and monetary development when studying coin hoards and cumulative finds. A central problem when classifying bracteates is that most of them are anonymous, i.e., there are seldom any legends or letters. However, bracteates struck in closely located mints almost always have the same regional monetary standard. In this study, I show how monetary standards in combination with social attributes can be used to classify bracteates when both legends and find information are lacking. I also provide an economic explanation why closely related mints voluntary joined a specific monetary standard.

In the areas occupied by the Cherniakhiv and Wielbark archaeological cultures during the Roman period, including the areas of eastern and northern Poland, there are relatively numerous finds of Roman aurei of Trajan Decius (249–251) and his direct predecessors on the imperial throne. These coins are interpreted as part of the imperial treasury looted by the barbarians (Goths) after they won the Battle of Abritus in 251. In the same areas one can distinguish a horizon of finds of silver Roman coins, denarii and antoniniani, which cannot be directly linked to the Battle of Abritus, but more broadly, with the Goth raids on the Roman provinces in the early 250s, the spectacular culmination of which was the Battle of Abritus. This horizon is not clear in finds from southern, central and western Poland, occupied in the Roman period by the Przeworsk and Luboszyce cultures, not related to the Goths.

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.

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.

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.

*

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.