A beautiful medal of King Stanislaw Augustus, both in terms of its state of preservation and iconography.
From the beginning of his reign, Poniatowski attached great importance to minting and medal-making. He made the decision to start issuing thalers with an outright medal representation - a bust in armor. He hired a court-appointed, eminent medalist who took care of the artistic aspect of these issues. Throughout his reign, he commissioned the minting of numerous medals - commemorating important events and figures of his era. But while we have plenty of Polish medal issues of this king, there are few medals commemorating Poniatowski abroad.
One such very rare medal is this one. Minted to commemorate the adoption of the May 3 Constitution in 1791, in Amsterdam, made by medalist Johann Goerg Holtzhey (signed on both sides).
It's a medal with rich symbolism: from the inclusion of "father of the fatherland" (PATRIAE PARENS) in the king's titulary, to the monogram of Christ over the shield of arms, the broken shackles, the broken yoke, to the inscriptions of the reverse translated as "free fear," "by the glorious decree of the Diet on May 3, 1791."
The beautiful medal mirror and patina of the former collection make this medal very attractive to collectors.
Obverse: bust of the king to the right, above the star of the Order of the White Eagle. In the rim:
STANISLAUS AUGUST D G REX POLON M D L PATRIAE PARENS.
Reverse: shield of arms modeled on a globe, with corona muralis, monogram XP, between the Genius (with cap of liberty and olive branches), and Roman fasces. Above them the eye of Providence. On the ground, a yoke and a bundle. In the rim: TERRORE LIBERA. In segment:
EX PERHONORIFICO COMITIORUM DECRETO D III. MAY MDCCXCI.
