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Sigismund I , 1506-1548 King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
- uncle of Louis II, King of Bohemia and Hungary -
on coins
*1467 in Kraków, son of Elisabeth of Habsburg and Casimir IV Jagiello, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sigismund married Barbara Zápolya from Transylvania in 1512. After her death he married Bona Sforza from Milan in 1518. Their son Sigismund II August was Grand Duke of Lithuania and the last Jagiellon King of Poland. Sigismund and Bona Sforza were lovers of the fine arts. They brought Italian artists to Kraków and propagated Renaissance ideals throughout the country. The period of the two Sigismunds is known as the Golden Age of Polish culture.
Sigismund's nephew Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the last grand master of the Teutonic Order. On 10 April 1525, he took the oath of fealty on the marketplace of Kraków. In return, Sigismund made him the first Duke of Prussia and invested him with the domains of the Order. This so called "Prussian Homage" converted the catholic Teutonic Order into the secular lutheran Duchy of East Prussia as a fief of catholic Poland. Western Prussia had already become the Polish province of Royal Prussia in 1466. Sigismund added the duchy of Mazovia (now the province of Warsaw) to the Polish state when the last ruler of the Piast dynasty died in 1529. His country extended from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. Sigismund had to fight off attacks from Russians and Tatars. Domestically, he asserted royal power against the predominant nobility.
 
Monetary reform
As low-grading and false coining increased, people became suspicious of Halbgroschen in Poland and of Pfennig and Schilling in Prussia. A mint reform was overdue and Sigismund was able to implement it in 1526/8. Poland introduced a new Denar (0,36g), Ternar (0,56g), Groschen (2,05g), 3-Groschen (6,18g) and 6-Groschen (12,36g). Prussian new denominations were Pfennig (Denar), Schilling (= 6 Pf.), Groschen (= 3 Sch.), 3- and 6-Gröscher. Thus, a mint union was effected between Prussia and Poland with largely harmonized laws of coinage. New coin images were introduced on the occasion and the effigy of the Polish king appears for the first time and already in the Renaissance style.



3 Groschen 1528, Kraków, for Poland.     Ø 29 mm, 6,04g (375‰ fineness).   Gumowski 493
Obv.:   ¤SIGISMVNDVS·PRIM·REX·POLONIE  -  bust with crown and armour
Rev.:   MONETA¤REGNI¤POLONIE¤1528  -  Polish eagle

In 1528, King Sigismund introduced additional types of coins, the 3 and 6 Groschen. Kraków issued them with the 3- and 6-fold weight of the Groschen.
The West-Prussian mints in Toruń, Gdansk, Elblag and the East-Prussian mint in Königsberg used silver of higher fineness (875‰ instead of 375 ‰). This allowed for lighter weight coins at the same silver content as those produced in Kraków. The field-filling legend "III GROSSVS ARGENTE TRIPLEX" is typical for the new Prussian 3 Gröscher coins.


3 Gröscher 1530, Toruń (Thorn), for Prussia, royal Polish West Prussia.
Ø 20 mm, 2,5 g (875‰ fineness).     Gumowski 534, Neumann 73, Schulten 2801
Obv.:   ¤SIGIS¤I¤REX¤POLOniae¤DOminus¤TOCtIus¤PRVSSiae   ".., Sovereign of all Prussia"
Rev.:   ¤III¤ / GROSSVS / ARGENTE / TRIPLEX / PRVSSIE / ¤1530¤



Groschen (groszy) 1534, Toruń, for Prussia.     Ø 24 mm, 1,9 g.   Gumowski 530
Obv.:   ¤SIGIS¤I¤REX¤PO¤DO¤TOCI¤PRVSSIE     ".., Sovereign of all Prussia"
Rev.:   ¤GROSSus¤COMmVunis¤TERRae¤PRVSSIE¤1534
"Groschen, common to all Prussian territory"
West Prussia fell under Polish government in 1466, after her secession from the Teutonic Order in 1454. King Sigismund largely confirmed the rights of the diet. The Prussian eagle with brandishing sword arm became the coat of arms of "royal Polish Prussia". The Prussian eagle is derived from the coat of arms of the Teutonic Order: a cross surmounted by a black imperial eagle. The crown on the eagle's neck stands for "being put to the yoke". The sword arm is a symbol of secular law. The first king's governor in West Prussia used this coat of arms to seal state documents.



Groschen 1534, Gdansk.     Ø 22 mm.   Gumowski 561, Schulten 675
Obv.:   ¤SIGIS¤I¤REX¤PO¤DO¤TOCI¤PRV
Rev.:   ¤GROSSus¤CIVItatis¤DANC3¤1534  -  coat of arms of Gdansk.
On coins Gdansk (german Danzig) appears as DANNC3K, DANSCZ, DANCZK and GEDANEN
In 1457, King Kasimir IV granted the Hansa town of Gdansk the right to mint, which the Teutonic Order had always refused to do. The Polish Kingdom also awarded Gdansk a crown in the coat of arms to indicate the town's royal standing.



Ducat 1534, Kraków.     Ø 21 mm, 3,49 g.   Gumowski 504 ; Kopicki 453 ; Fr.70
Obv.:   SIG◦I◦REX◦PO◦DO◦TO◦PRVS◦1534
Rev.:   IVSTVS*VT*PALMA*FLOREBIT (sickle mark)
The sickle stands for the mintmaster and leaseholder Jost Ludwig Decius. The quartered coat of arms shows the Polish crowned (red) eagle, the Lithuanian rider, the lion of Red Ruthenia (Eastern Galicia / Western Ukraine) and the West Prussian (black) eagle with sword.
The arms of the king's mother, the Austrian fess, is mounted in the center.
C-S stands for the Cracowian mint and its treasurer Spytak Tarnowski.

In 1528, the Ducat was worth 45 Polish Groschen, i.e. a silver-to-gold ratio of 1:10.




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