A very rare numismatic coin that is a souvenir of the second period of Charles Ferdinand's minting.
As part of the settlement related to the withdrawal of his candidacy in the election of 1648, Charles received the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz after Ladislaus. And it was on its territory that he resumed his minting activities. As Marek Folwarniak describes it, "the coins minted at the Opole mint were of a more utilitarian and circulating nature compared to those of Nysa." Here is an example of them.
These are the only 3 krajcars of the Bishop of Wroclaw Charles Ferdinand. They were minted in the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz, which came into the hands of the Vasa family in 1645. It was part of the Warsaw Pact concluded between King Ladislaus and Emperor Ferdinand III.
These principalities were pledged as collateral for the outstanding dowries of Austrian archduchesses - the wives of the first two Vasa men on the Polish throne. As Tadeusz Kalkowski describes their history,"Władysław IV enjoyed the titles of Prince of Opole and Racibórz for only three years. After his death in 1648, both principalities were temporarily taken over by his brother, John Casimir, but, elected king, he handed them over to his brother... the bishop of Wrocław, Karol Ferdinand... After the bishop's death in 1655, the principality of Opole and Racibórz returned again to John Casimir."
Today the coins of Charles Ferdinand are rare. Much rarer than the prized three-coin coins of his brother John Casimir. Also due to the fact that after the Emperor bought out the principalities, the Habsburgs banned the circulation of Polish money in Silesia, thus catching many of them out of circulation and melting them down irretrievably.
