The rarest vintage of King Sigismund's Cracow pennies.
A distinctive issue with the letter C in the shield (from Cracov), with which the city began minting this denomination during the reign of the Vasa dynasty (earlier vintages described in catalogs are the result of minting errors in the dates, or their misreading by researchers). From then on, Kraków became the sole issuer of grosz in the Crown, until 1613.
1603 is a vintage that appears sporadically in the trade. It has been valued for years, as evidenced by its high rarity grades in catalogs (R6-R8) or valuations in price lists. Tyszkiewicz put a question mark on it (he didn't see it in the trade), valuing it more expensive than the Lublin pennies so prized today.
In addition, it is a beautiful piece. The prettiest it has appeared at auction in Poland, which is also confirmed by the MS note in the NGC grading (the only one for this vintage).
