Russian Coins of Poland
nicholasz219
Posts: 1,386 ✭✭✭
In my ever expanding Russian coin collection, I have ventured out into branches of Russian issues that I had not known even existed until maybe a year or so ago.
I have absolutely no experience in photgraphing coins, so if someone would tell me how to use a Kodak EasyShare C315 to take pics of my coins, I will be happy to post them. I can not get a clean image of the coin without a ton of glare. Help!
Empress Catherine II (1762-1796) was born in Szczecin, Poland, as Sophie Fredericke Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst on May 2 1729. The daughter of minor German nobility, she became the wife of the prospective Tsar Peter of Holstein-Gottorp at the age of 15 in 1745. She proved to be very devoted to the idea of ruling Russia intelligently, spending much time learning the language and customs of her newly adopted homeland. Her marriage to Peter did not prove to be so successful for reasons of impotence and incompetence in political matters. After Tsarina Elizabeth's death in 1762, Peter became Peter III. Soon his intervention in affairs of foreign countries disillusioned the nobility whom Catherine had carefully cultivated as supporters. Peter was deposed after leaving for his country home without Catherine six months after taking the throne.
Once in power, Catherine began a program of general education and civilization in Russia. She is widely considered to be an enlightened despot, bringing a medical collegium to the country to study and treat infectuous diseases and to establish hospitals.
In foreign affairs she proved her mettle in aggressively pursuing her goals for Russia. She took on two of the most longstanding and difficult problems facing Russia, the issues of Crimea and Poland. The First Turkish War, 1768-1774 was her first push to extend Russia to its natural southern boundary, the Black Sea. The lands there had been held by the Turks since the Kievan state of the early millenia. By land and sea she sent invaders to conquer the Crimea. By 1774 the Turks had been thoroughly defeated and in the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji, Crimea went to Russian control as an independent state. In 1783, Catherine moved to annex the Crimea which sparked another war with Turkey, this time from 1787-1792. Catherine sent a large fleet from Sevastopol in 1785 to dominate the Black Sea. When Turkey declared war on Russia in 1787 for their aggression, it had allied itself with Great Britain and Sweden (one of Russia's longtime enemies). Austria had allied itself with Russia in hopes of diminishing the longstanding Turkish threat. The great General Suvarov routed the Turk forces and in the Treaty of Jassy on January 1, 1792 Russia gained permanent control of the Crimea and Ukraine as well as the Black Sea.
These important victories mirrored victories she would oversee in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Poland was the cause of conflict for some time and Catherine sought to resolve this conflict permanently in favor of Russia. Due to internal discord, Poland was ripe for partition. This discord started in the 1650's. Elected kings and a diet called 'sejm' could not control the subjects of the kingdom. When the sejm met, if one person dissented from the group on the policies they were creating, that lone vote could not only kill action on that particular item, but on all legislation for the whole session. This liberum veto created much chaos in Polish governmental affairs. Between 1652-1674, 48 out of 55 diets ended in this fashion. One third of those aborted sessions were caused by the vote of one person.
The Polish king also had to manage a very diverse group of subjects, including Poles, Lithuanians, White Russians, Ukrainians, Jews, Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants and Hebrews. The gentry accounted for only eight percent of the population. This internal discord coupled with the hardly manageable population and government made Poland ripe for the picking by Russia, Prussia and Austria.
In 1764, the last king of Poland, Stanislaw Poniatowski (1764-1795), a lover of Catherine II's, tried to make reforms after asking Prussia and Russia to intervene in Poland's internal affairs. In 1766-1768, when Orthodox and Protestants forced equal rights, Catholics declared war which ensured the whole country was engulfed in Civil War. France and Turkey, in an effort to undermine Russia and Austria, invaded Poland. Russia battles back against the Catholics and prevails in 1772.
Prussia offered partition to Russia after witnessing Catherine's successful prosecution of the First Turkish War. The thought of easing her expansionist plans would prove to be unsuccessful. Austria was given some Polish lands as well as Prussia which were strategic to both countries.
Unrest in 1773 spurred the Four Year Diet of 1788-1792 with a resulting Constitution of 1791. It established a hereditary monarchy which was accepted by Austria and Prussia, but frowned upon by Russia.
Russia and Austria invade in 1793 and in January of that year engage in the second partitioning of Poland. Russia took the lion's share of lands as well as the right to make Polish foreign policy and invade again if need be. In 1794 Thaddeus Kosiuszko organized a national uprising which was subsequently crushed by the Russian General Suvarov. Austria rejoined this effort and engaged in the third and final partitioning of Poland in October 1795 with Russia and Prussia. At this point, Poland as a nation ceases to exist.
Russia took the center stage of European affairs with Catherine II at the helm. The Polish problem continued though, with rights and boundaries the new problem. Polish support for Napoleon caused further complications for Russia. Napoleon's defeat spurs the calling of the Congress of Vienna.
At this point, Catherine's grandson, Alexander I declares his wish for a large Kingdom of Poland to be in close union with Russia and himself as King. He created a liberal constitution for the country in 1815. Poland was inseparable from Russia in politics and coinage.
A longstanding relation of ten Polish Zlotys to one and a half Rubles became the basis of a currency issued beginning in 1832. This silver based coinage was issued in 15 Kopeck/1 Zloty, 20 Kopeck/40 Groszy, 25 Kopeck/50 Groszy, 30 Kopeck/2 Zlote, 3/4 Ruble/5 Zlote, 1 1/2 Ruble/10 Zlote and 3 Ruble/20 Zlote dual denominated issues.
I currently own two pieces of dual denominated coinage from Poland during this period. The first is an 1835 15 Kopeck/1 Zloty piece from Warsaw. Mintage of only 2,192,000 it is one of the more common date issues. It bears the dual denomination on the obverse along with the date. The reverse bears the Russian Imperial Eagle and Crest.
Another piece is an 1838 30 Kopeck/2 Zlote piece from Warsaw. This piece bears the denomination on the obverse and the Russian Imperial Eagle and Crest on the reverse. This piece though has a mintage of only 1,978 pieces!
The great thing about this series is that I was able to buy both of these pieces for under $10. To me, this is a fascinating part of Russian and Polish history, and having two of the coins to represent it gives me great pleasure!
Hope you enjoyed!
Nick
Will add pictures soon!
I have absolutely no experience in photgraphing coins, so if someone would tell me how to use a Kodak EasyShare C315 to take pics of my coins, I will be happy to post them. I can not get a clean image of the coin without a ton of glare. Help!
Empress Catherine II (1762-1796) was born in Szczecin, Poland, as Sophie Fredericke Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst on May 2 1729. The daughter of minor German nobility, she became the wife of the prospective Tsar Peter of Holstein-Gottorp at the age of 15 in 1745. She proved to be very devoted to the idea of ruling Russia intelligently, spending much time learning the language and customs of her newly adopted homeland. Her marriage to Peter did not prove to be so successful for reasons of impotence and incompetence in political matters. After Tsarina Elizabeth's death in 1762, Peter became Peter III. Soon his intervention in affairs of foreign countries disillusioned the nobility whom Catherine had carefully cultivated as supporters. Peter was deposed after leaving for his country home without Catherine six months after taking the throne.
Once in power, Catherine began a program of general education and civilization in Russia. She is widely considered to be an enlightened despot, bringing a medical collegium to the country to study and treat infectuous diseases and to establish hospitals.
In foreign affairs she proved her mettle in aggressively pursuing her goals for Russia. She took on two of the most longstanding and difficult problems facing Russia, the issues of Crimea and Poland. The First Turkish War, 1768-1774 was her first push to extend Russia to its natural southern boundary, the Black Sea. The lands there had been held by the Turks since the Kievan state of the early millenia. By land and sea she sent invaders to conquer the Crimea. By 1774 the Turks had been thoroughly defeated and in the Treaty of Kuchuk Kainarji, Crimea went to Russian control as an independent state. In 1783, Catherine moved to annex the Crimea which sparked another war with Turkey, this time from 1787-1792. Catherine sent a large fleet from Sevastopol in 1785 to dominate the Black Sea. When Turkey declared war on Russia in 1787 for their aggression, it had allied itself with Great Britain and Sweden (one of Russia's longtime enemies). Austria had allied itself with Russia in hopes of diminishing the longstanding Turkish threat. The great General Suvarov routed the Turk forces and in the Treaty of Jassy on January 1, 1792 Russia gained permanent control of the Crimea and Ukraine as well as the Black Sea.
These important victories mirrored victories she would oversee in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Poland was the cause of conflict for some time and Catherine sought to resolve this conflict permanently in favor of Russia. Due to internal discord, Poland was ripe for partition. This discord started in the 1650's. Elected kings and a diet called 'sejm' could not control the subjects of the kingdom. When the sejm met, if one person dissented from the group on the policies they were creating, that lone vote could not only kill action on that particular item, but on all legislation for the whole session. This liberum veto created much chaos in Polish governmental affairs. Between 1652-1674, 48 out of 55 diets ended in this fashion. One third of those aborted sessions were caused by the vote of one person.
The Polish king also had to manage a very diverse group of subjects, including Poles, Lithuanians, White Russians, Ukrainians, Jews, Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants and Hebrews. The gentry accounted for only eight percent of the population. This internal discord coupled with the hardly manageable population and government made Poland ripe for the picking by Russia, Prussia and Austria.
In 1764, the last king of Poland, Stanislaw Poniatowski (1764-1795), a lover of Catherine II's, tried to make reforms after asking Prussia and Russia to intervene in Poland's internal affairs. In 1766-1768, when Orthodox and Protestants forced equal rights, Catholics declared war which ensured the whole country was engulfed in Civil War. France and Turkey, in an effort to undermine Russia and Austria, invaded Poland. Russia battles back against the Catholics and prevails in 1772.
Prussia offered partition to Russia after witnessing Catherine's successful prosecution of the First Turkish War. The thought of easing her expansionist plans would prove to be unsuccessful. Austria was given some Polish lands as well as Prussia which were strategic to both countries.
Unrest in 1773 spurred the Four Year Diet of 1788-1792 with a resulting Constitution of 1791. It established a hereditary monarchy which was accepted by Austria and Prussia, but frowned upon by Russia.
Russia and Austria invade in 1793 and in January of that year engage in the second partitioning of Poland. Russia took the lion's share of lands as well as the right to make Polish foreign policy and invade again if need be. In 1794 Thaddeus Kosiuszko organized a national uprising which was subsequently crushed by the Russian General Suvarov. Austria rejoined this effort and engaged in the third and final partitioning of Poland in October 1795 with Russia and Prussia. At this point, Poland as a nation ceases to exist.
Russia took the center stage of European affairs with Catherine II at the helm. The Polish problem continued though, with rights and boundaries the new problem. Polish support for Napoleon caused further complications for Russia. Napoleon's defeat spurs the calling of the Congress of Vienna.
At this point, Catherine's grandson, Alexander I declares his wish for a large Kingdom of Poland to be in close union with Russia and himself as King. He created a liberal constitution for the country in 1815. Poland was inseparable from Russia in politics and coinage.
A longstanding relation of ten Polish Zlotys to one and a half Rubles became the basis of a currency issued beginning in 1832. This silver based coinage was issued in 15 Kopeck/1 Zloty, 20 Kopeck/40 Groszy, 25 Kopeck/50 Groszy, 30 Kopeck/2 Zlote, 3/4 Ruble/5 Zlote, 1 1/2 Ruble/10 Zlote and 3 Ruble/20 Zlote dual denominated issues.
I currently own two pieces of dual denominated coinage from Poland during this period. The first is an 1835 15 Kopeck/1 Zloty piece from Warsaw. Mintage of only 2,192,000 it is one of the more common date issues. It bears the dual denomination on the obverse along with the date. The reverse bears the Russian Imperial Eagle and Crest.
Another piece is an 1838 30 Kopeck/2 Zlote piece from Warsaw. This piece bears the denomination on the obverse and the Russian Imperial Eagle and Crest on the reverse. This piece though has a mintage of only 1,978 pieces!
The great thing about this series is that I was able to buy both of these pieces for under $10. To me, this is a fascinating part of Russian and Polish history, and having two of the coins to represent it gives me great pleasure!
Hope you enjoyed!
Nick
Will add pictures soon!
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Comments
Without getting technical, one way I usually beat glare is to tilt the coin towards the camera slightly by placing a clear airtite under the coins edge. Then I adjust the camera slightly on its mini tripod to regain focus.
is that you end up being governed by inferiors. – Plato
You could also try to reduce the glare on the coin by setting up the lighting so it's not so direct on the coin. Hope to see some pictures soon!
Virtus Collection - Renaissance and Baroque Medals
Or maybe this site will help your photos. Omnicoin Photo tips
FOR SALE Items
Thanks!
Nick
I would love to see what you had. The coins I find in this series are either seriously undervalued (and my favorite) or seriously overpriced.
Keep me abreast of anything you might find!
Thanks,
Nick