A 1771 semi-talar from a trial issue, not put into circulation, whose stamps were prepared by the royal court medallicist Jan Filip Holzhausser.
The issue was made in pure silver to prevent massive counterfeiting of Polish coinage at Prussian mints. Beautiful iconography, depicting a heated mint furnace under a sentence referring to the idea of new coins: VINCIT FRAUDEM - Counterfeit wins.
Although proof coins by design should be in mint condition, this rule does not apply to 1771 proofs. They usually appear in states that deviate from mint condition, and the reasons for this can be traced not only to the bullion, but also to the fact that the king decided to test how coins in pure silver would look and behave in circulation, as stressed by Janusz Parchimowicz.
Original minting, with clearly preserved traces of the collar buckle.
Beautiful presence. Preserved natural mint mirror background, only with old shallow rubbing. Very good relief. A lovely coin.
Silver, diameter 33 mm, weight 9.95 g.
