One of the rarest orts of John Casimir.
Lviv orth from the year 1657, an issue of only one month!
The story of this issue begins after the heroic defense of Lviv against the besieging Moscow and Cossack armies. At a time when other cities of the Crown were falling under the onslaught of the Swedes, it was the victorious Lviv that became the destination of King Jan Kazimierz.
Having reached the city in February, he issued a universal order to open a mint as early as March 1, 1656, out of the need to pay the troops. Silver for the issuance of coins (orts and sixpences) was obtained from requisitioned silver from church treasuries, beginning the minting of coins on May 15 and ending just 37 weeks later! January 24, 1657!
The coins minted at that time are characterized by poor workmanship, which is typical of wartime issues. The workshop organized in Lviv did not employ mincmasters, but city craftsmen. Coins were minted using the old method, stamps were cut by hand, in a hurry, hence their great variety. These factors translated into rather poor legibility and poor state of preservation of the pieces circulating in the trade. Usually, these coins are severely deficient, crookedly struck or with doubled minting, produced from defective sheet metal.
And while the orts of 1656 are characterized by great variety and general availability on the market, those of 1657 are practically non-existent. This is reflected in the account books that have survived to our time. Indicating that the 1657 orts accounted for less than 5% of the 1656-1657 orts issued.
A nice, natural piece, in a celadon patina. Typical of Lviv issues, the minting is weak, but the celadon patina appears on a natural surface with an unaged "mint apprette". Its dominance on this coin shows how much such surface has been preserved on this obit.
A spectacular coin!
