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.