Jester's Challenge #190

1jester

Welcome to Jester's Challenge, an interactive history lesson.

Inspired by many others here on the Darkside forum, I'd like to present what I hope will turn into a great learning experience for all of us. Many members on this World and Ancient Coin Forum have done a formidable job of sharing with us many fascinating and historically important coins. Since looking at coins is also one of my greatest pleasures, I'd like to try to follow in that time-honored tradition and submit for your pleasure and entertainment some world coins I've come across in my short lifetime.

I will pick out a coin on a regular basis, and post it along with the challenge to you to name the coin, its provenance, denomination, metallic content, mintage, any distinguishing characteristics or noteworthy features, and its value. The more information, the better. I'd like as many people as possible to participate, regardless of how little knowledge you might have on the subject. I appreciate comments on every aspect of the coin, including its history, or its role in human history, or info on similar coins in its series, etc. I myself don't presume to know 1/1000 of what you collectively know, hence my challenge to all of you to share your knowledge with the rest of us. Hopefully this exercise will encourage thought, discussion, and most importantly, more friendship.

Thanks for your participation!!!

Here is the one hundred ninetieth selection:

spoon

Nice! A czworak (groat) from Sigismund II Augustus.

I've been meaning to ask you to help me get one of those from that dealer in town, but I'm broke now!

JamminJ

I'll offer a guess of Poland, but I can't be more specific. If only I had a reference for the 16th century.

-JamminJ

spoon

Was Wilno the only mint used during his reign? other than Danzig.

spoon

Also.. is that a countermark below the bust?

1jester

Spoon--BINGO!!! There's a countermark, "XS." which was used by a famous banker in Warsaw named Xavier Segno. He held forth in the early 1800s, and there are a few of his coins known. Altogether, there are 4 different families that counterpunched their coins; one is the Czapski family, using a "C". Another is Antoni Segno, using "AR". See this Parvus from the 1300s. I believe the fourth family was the Potocki family, and they punched their coins with the family coat of arms.

As far as mints go, I have seen Vilnius, Cracow, Elblag, Gdansk (Danzig), and Tykocin. I'll try to find some more mints that August II used.

spoon

I wonder how large my collection has to be before I can start stamping things

1jester

Imagine if everyone were to stamp each of their coins? Chopmark city!!! Shiroh would love the coins for sure, but I'm not so confident the collectors in the future would appreciate it!