The year 1786 brings the Polish copper minting industry three new types of coins, which all have one thing in common - the sentence "FROM COPPER KRAIOWEY". But only one of them, the half-penny, never went into circulation, remaining an extremely rare proof issue.
The 1786 Domestic Copper half-penny is a coin that can be found in only a few collections, especially in this state of preservation.
Beautiful, in a natural chocolate patina. Complete with a sewn envelope from an old collection.
A historically important and typologically sought-after coin. Completing the series inaugurating the minting of Polish copper coins, from the deposits of the Copper Mountain mine. Minted from a small shipment of copper, dated 1785, which was used when no shipment of this ore was delivered by Prokopovich in 1786.
The issuance of this half-penny comes at a time when the mint did not produce small copper coinage - both shekels and half-pennies. As Rafal Janke notes, therefore, an engraver of three-penny coin stamps was employed to make the stamps of the present coin (as can be seen from the typeface of the letters).
Occasionally appearing at auctions, both today and in the past, as can be seen, for example, in "Great Collections of Polish Coins."
The domestic copper half-penny was present in only one of the four great Polish collections sold between 1904 and 1932, and neither Frankiewicz, Chelminski nor Chomiński had it. Kubicki's piece was sold at a high price of 60 marks (that is, almost as much as the 3 and 1.5 ducats went for together!).
Copper, diameter 17.5 mm, weight 1.88 g.
