Topics of coins
The schilling and the thaler of King Stephen Bathory
The reign of Stephen Báthory (1576–1586) brought
a further modification and development of the minting
system. New minting regulations issued in 1580 played
a pivotal role in its formation. In the regulations, the king
decided to establish a Polish-Lithuanian monetary
union and to mint harmonized monetary units in
both parts of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
The coins that were introduced included, among others,
the thaler, the trojak (three grossi), the grosz and
the schilling (szelag). The first and the last of these coins
are particularly noteworthy. That is because the thalers
had until that time been very rare and the schillings
were only known in the lands of Prussia. For this reason,
we have selected both of these coins for presentation
in our series.
On the obverse of the thaler minted in Olkusz we see
the half-lenght figure of King Stephen Báthory with
a crown on his head, in full armor, with a sceptre and
a sword in his hands. On the sides there is the divided
date: 15 – 80, and in the rim there is an inscription:
+STEPHANVS+D+G+REX+POLONIÆ+. On the reverse,
there is a crowned Eagle with a small shield on the chest,
with the coat-of-arms of the House of Báthory – wolf’s
teeth. In the rim, there is an inscription: MAG[nus]+DVX+
LITVA[niæ]+RVSSIÆ*PRVS[siæ]MASO[viæ]&C[et
cetera]*. We are therefore informed that the coin was
minted by Stephen, by the grace of God King of Poland,
Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia etc.
Against the background of the reverse of this largest silver
monetary unit, we present the smallest and most common
monetary unit, that is the schilling. On the obverse, it carries
a decorative letter S under the crown – a monogram of
the king’s name. A miniature coat-of-arms of the House of
Báthory was placed in the top arc of the letter. In the rim
there is an inscription: ·STEPHA[nus] · D[ei] · G[ratia]
·REX·POL[oniæ]. On the reverse of the schilling (not
visible on our coin) beneath a royal crown there are two
shields with the coats–of-arms of Lithuania and the Crown
of Poland. In the rim there is an inscription: ·SOLIDVS-
·REG[ni]·POL[oniæ]·15–80. It is therefore a schilling of
the Kingdom of Poland.
Due to the lack of space, it was not possible to present both
historical coins in full on the present coin. In addition, it
was also necessary to add an imprint with the state emblem,
the name RZECZPOSPOLITA POLSKA, the date 2016 and
the face value of 20 złoty, and an explanatory inscription
“SZELĄG, TALAR STEFANA BATOREGO” (The schilling
and the thaler of King Stephen Báthory) on the other side
of the coin.
Stanisław Suchodolski