This is one of those coins whose rarity needs no explanation.
Just say these few words: the beautiful crown ducat of King Ladislaus IV.
All you have to do is search to see how few and how high its listings are. For years...
Looking into Count Tyszkiewicz's price list, published in 1890, we see next to the 1642 Bydgoszcz ducat a staggering 450 mk for the time! When on the next page the ducats, but of Danzig of this ruler, oscillate in valuations between 20 - 80 mk, and at 225 marks he valued the Danzig ducats, but of.... Sigismund I from the years 1546-1548!
We can see this gap even today, in auction listings. When you type in the Onebid archives the phrase Vladislav ducat of Danzig, you get 67 listings. Entering the Bydgoszcz ducat, there are only 6 since 1995, with only 3 pieces involved (the 1633 coronation piece and two from 1641).
The 1642 vintage was listed at auction in Poland only once (Niemczyk 26, sold for 300,000 zlotys).
According to a study by Jaroslaw Dutkowski, this vintage was minted with one pair of stamps. This reflects well the nature of King Wladislaw's crown minting, which was dominated by silver, thaler coinage, and ducat issues were almost incidental.
The ornament of this auction.
Obverse: bust of the king wearing a crown, armor, lace collar and an order of the Golden Fleece. In the rim the titulature:
VL IIII D G REX POL ET SVE.
Reverse: under the crown a five-field shield with the Vasa coat of arms centrally. On the lower edge an additional shield with the Sas coat of arms (of the crown treasurer Jan Danniłowicz). On its sides the date (16-42), the initials of the mint's lessee (Gabriel Gerloff) and the mint mark (two crossed hooks). From the middle, it is surrounded by an ornamental chain of the Order of the Golden Fleece, into which the initials of the engraver (BS) are embedded, and whose jewel is separated by an obverse inscription:
MON NOVA AV REA REG POL.
