Nieznana hybryda denara PRINCES POLONIE i nowy typ monety Bolesława Chrobrego

• Authors: Mateusz Bogucki

Title variants

EN

An unknown hybrid of the PRINCES POLONIE denarius and a new type of Bolesław the Brave's coin

Abstracts

EN

In 2004 some early medieval coins were found in the vicinity of Tarnowo Pałuckie, Wągrowiec poviat, which probably made up a part of a hoard discovered in 1861¹. Most probably among them there was a denarius - a hybrid of Boleslav the Brave's PRINCES POLONIE type³ and a completely unknown type (Fig. 1). Its diameter is 18.5-19.5 mm, weight 1.22 g. A fragment of another coin (Fig. 2) struck with the same dies was found in the hoard of Maniów, Głogów poviat (t.p.q. 1037). There are also coins struck by means of a "church" die and other one, with circles between the arms of the cross. They occurred in the hoards of Ulejno, Środa poviat (t.p.q. 1006- Fig. 3), Oleśnica, Dalików poviat (t.p.q. 1037 - Fig. 4) and Zdwórz, Plock poviat (t.p.q. 1034 - Fig. 5). The hoards of Zakrzew II, Sochaczew poviat (t.p.q. 1030) and Żukowo, Plock poviat (t.p.q 1024?) comprise one-sided denarii (Fig. 6, 7), struck with the "church" die. The finding of three coins struck with the same dies alongside two one-sided denarii makes it possible to claim that not merely a coincidental hybrid of the PRINCES POLONIE die, but that we are dealing with a new type of Boleslav the Brave's coins. However, combination of the coins of the type in question and the PRINCES POLONIE denarii does not close the chain of die combinations. In the hoard of Lisówek, Słubice poviat (t.p.q. 1011), discovered in 1894 (Fig. 9), and in the hoard of Przyborów, Sulęcin poviat (t.p.q. 1011), there were coins struck with the "church" die (obverse) and the reverse die different from the foregoing ones. The reverse of those coins presents a cross with dots between its arms. The circle surrounding it is linear, with an imitation of a legend within the rim. So far no preserved coin struck with those dies have been found in collections. With considerable probability one more denarius from the Lisówek hoard, known merely from drawings by E. Bahrfeldt ¹⁴, might be added to the die combination chain. This is a denarius with a church with one step and five dots in the middle upon the obverse. On either side there are half-moons, turned outwards, and dots in the middle. The reverse had been struck with a die bearing a cross of a new type (Fig. 10). The described coins are made of the silver of good quality-94,2-96% Ag (see appendix 1). They weight between 0,64 and 1,29 g, which means that they belong to the lighter group of Boleslav the Brave's coins. This might be the argument for their earlier chronology. The dispersion of the new type of denarii is very similar to the other Boleslav's coins (Fig. 15). It is impossible to indicate the exact mint place. However, it is likely that it was Poznań, Gniezno, Ostrów Lednicki or Plock, as for all the other types of Boleslav the Brave's coins. Apart from coins included in the die combination chain, two groups of denarii described by P. Ilisch¹⁷ must be pointed out which exhibit considerable similarity to the new type. This concerns denarii with a Bavarian temple and inscription VIDY upon the obverse and a cross upon the reverse (Fig. 11, 12), as well as denarii bearing the inscription +JIVA stylistically resembling them (Fig. 13). The combination with the barbarised variant of the PRINCES POLONIE type is of primary importance for the chronology of the new type. Having analysed the wear of the die, the hybrid might be inferred to have come into being the moment the PRINCES POLONIE obverse and the reverse with the cross of a new variant had already been damaged or separated. The fact that at least two specimens of the hybrid are known might suggest that they were being struck for a time. The coins of regular church type might be regarded as older specimens. The one-sided denarii are younger, the hybrids of the two types having come into being latest. The variant Hatz IV20 denarii of Otto and Adelaide, which provided the pattern, have been dated to the turn of the 10th century, i.e. starting from 995¹¹. With a great deal of probability, one may suggest that the barbarised variant of the PRINCES POLONIE denarius came into being at the time the dies of the correct variant were still in use, i.e. after 1002, which is pointed out by similarity to the reverse die which imitates the denari of Yladivoy. The oldest hoards with the new church type are Ulejno (t.p.q. 1006), Lisówek (t.p.q. 1011) and Przyborów (t.p.q. 1011 ). Taking into account the sporadic, not continuous character of Boleslav the Brave's coinage, one may suggest that the church type came into being before the PRINCES POLONIE, therefore it should be dated to the years 1000-1010. The foregoing new coin type paves the way to completely new directions of investigations into Boleslav the Brave's coinage. As it is, it turns out that a large group of the imitations might actually have been issued by the duke's mint. Although this was suspected long ago, it is only today that those justified suppositions have been backed up with unquestionable proof in the form of the die combination chain (Fig. 14).

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk
• Journal: Wiadomości Numizmatyczne
• Year: 2006
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 2(182)
• Pages: 181-194

Dates

published

2006

Contributors

author

Mateusz Bogucki

• Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii PAN, Warszawa

Identifiers

Biblioteka Nauki

16496231