Topics of coins

Stanisław Małachowski

Stanisław Małachowski (1736–1809) was one of the most eminent figures in 18th-century Polish history. From the time of the election of King Stanisław August in 1764, hestood at the monarch's side, holding high offices, including that of deputy to the Sejm, marshal of the Crown Tribunal, and then member of the Permanent Council. The crowning achievement of his career was his election as speaker of the Four-Year Sejm in 1788. At that Sejm, Małachowski, together with the King, Ignacy Potocki and Hugo Kołłątaj, co-wrote the new law for cities and the Constitution of 3 May. Then, on the King’s name-day – 8 May 1790 – Stanisław August bestowed upon him a gold medal. The medal inscription enumerated virtues and merits of Małachowski, who had already received two of Poland’s highest distinctions – the Order of Saint Stanislaus (in 1770) and the Order of the White Eagle (in 1782); they appear on the medal portrait. In later years, Stanisław Małachowski condemned the Targowica confederation, and in the Duchy of Warsaw he was given the honorary position of president of the Senate. The reign of Stanisław August was a time when the country was modernised in many areas. This also applied to the royal court, its artistic setting and patronage. Following the example of the French monarchs, the King wished to immortalise his reign in the form of a series of commemorative medals, to create a medallic series of Polish kings and to award medals to prominent figures contemporary to him. As early as 1765, a monetary reform was carried out and a modern mint was built in Warsaw. Its chief medallist was a Saxon, Jan Filip Holzhaeusser (1741– 1792), theauthor of most of the stamps of the coins and medals created during this reign, and considered one of the outstanding medallists of the epoch. The subjects were often indicated to the artist by the king himself suggesting versions of the inscriptions on the medals, which were usually struck in three metals: gold (for the awardee and for the royal collection), silver and, also later in the 19th century, bronze.

Marta Męclewska

The reverse of the coin features the bust in left profile copied from the medal, on the neck the Great Ribbon with the Order of the White Eagle, on the chest the Order of St. Stanislaus, along the rim the inscription (in translation): To Stanisław Małachowski, Referendary of the Crown, Speaker of the Sejm and Marshal of the Confederation.

On the obverse of the coin we read the text from the reverse of the medal (in translation): That in the exercise of his office as Speaker of the Sejm, by virtue, prudence and good example, he averted many evils from the Commonwealth and did much good to the homeland, this commemoration is offered to the noble citizen by grateful Stanisław August the King in the year 1790.