A specimen piece of the first Polish shekel!
A very rare coin with a characteristic reverse depicting the city's coat of arms - a city wall with a gate and three towers.
This is the first Polish coin of Toruń, the issuance of which began with the Thirteen Years' War, fought in 1454-1466 between the state of the Teutonic Order and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.
The coin is unique in its type, as Dariusz Marzęta spoke extensively about at one of our numismatic sessions, calling it the king of shekels. The only one with such iconography, where the obverse was an eagle with a crown on its chest, but without an armed sword, and the reverse was a municipal coat of arms. Of a value that the Polish shilling never had again later.
Issued between 1454 and 1466, minted in fine silver. Successively caught out of circulation and melted down to be punched into city shekels, introduced already three years later, from a clearly lower grade of silver, which led to the fact that today it belongs to very rare coins.
Here it is not only in a beautiful state of preservation, but also in a very rare variety - with an eagle not inscribed in the shield. This is the oldest type of these shellacs!
The prettiest gatefold shilling we have seen in the trade. Natural, evenly struck, with luster, in the light patina of an old collection. Exquisite.
Silver, diameter 21 mm, weight 1.71 g.
Obverse: eagle with a crown on its neck, in front, with outspread wings, facing right. In the rim:
KASIMIRVS : D : G : REX POLOE: (error, should be POLONIE).
Reverse: coat of arms of the city of Toruń in a shield. In the rim:
COIN : DVCATVS : PRVCIE
