Topics of coins
Thaler of Ladislas Vasa
What distinguishes the mintage of the times of
King Ladislas Vasa (1632–1648) is the lack of small
coin. As early as in 1627, the Sejm banned the issue
of such coin. The reasons behind the ban were
the debasement of domestic coin and an inflow of
a substantial amount of foreign low-quality coins
for speculative purposes.
Consequently, the mintage of King Ladislas Vasa is
associated with impressive thick coins such as gold
ducats and silver half-thalers and thalers. They were
minted both by the crown mint in Bydgoszcz and
mints in Gdańsk and Toruń. We will be particularly
interested in the thaler struck by the Bydgoszcz
mint in 1642 as the coin served to produce a coin
commemorating the mintage of the oldest son of
King Sigismund Vasa.
The obverse of the new coin
features a round stamp with the coat of arms and
name of the Republic of Poland, date 2017 and
face value 20 ZŁ. The background of certification
is the reverse of the ancient thaler of King Ladislas
Vasa of 1642, with the crowned nine-field escutcheon
with the coats of arms of Poland, Lithuania, Sweden
and Gotland, and the Vasa family (sheaf of hay) in
the centre. The escutcheon is encircled with the chain
of the Order of the Golden Fleece, which is separated
by an inscription at the bottom. The escutcheon is
flanked by the date 16 – 4Z and letters G – G, the initials
of Gabriel Gerlöff, the lessee of the Bydgoszcz
mint. Surrounding the escutcheon is the legend:
·SAM[ogitiae]:LIV[oniae]:NEC:NO[n]:SV[ecorum]
(Golden Fleece) GOT[orum]:VAN[dalorum]:Q[ue]:HAE
[reditarius]:REX·
Ladislas Vasa on horseback is placed against this
background. The image is modelled on the scene of
the homage paid by the Russian boyars to the King after
the Polish capture of Smoleńsk. The scene is pictured
on the side of the royal sarcophagus at Wawel Cathedral
in Cracow.
The reverse side of the commemorative coin, that
is the main side of the thaler of Ladislas Vasa,
features a beautiful bust of the richly dressed King
wearing a crown, and the legend along the rim:
VLA[dislaus]:IIII:D[ei]:G[ratia]:REX:POL[oniae]·
(the small escutcheon features the coat of arms of Sas
Jan Daniłowicz, the Grand Treasurer of the Crown)
M[agnus]·D[ux]:LIT[uaniae]:RVS[siae]:PR[ussiae]:
MA[soviae]·, which together is translated as: Ladislas
Vasa, by the Grace of God, King of Poland, Grand Duke
of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia,
Livonia and also the hereditary king of the Swedes,
Goths and Vandals.
In the background of the image of the royal bust
there is an explanation of the type of a coin: TALAR
WŁADYSŁAWA IV (thaler of Ladislas Vasa).
Stanisław Suchodolski