A very rare thaler found at auction in Poland.
It is a type minted in only two vintages. Its issue began in 1706 and ended a year later, and according to Edmund Kopicki, it is the 1707 vintage that is the rarer of the two (R1 / R4).
It is also very interesting in its meaning. It is the only type of thalers of this ruler that exposes the shield with the coats of arms of Poland and Lithuania (placing the coat of arms of Saxony in its central point), surrounding it with 6 much smaller shields, instead of presenting two equal shields with the coats of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Saxony.
It is significant in the context of the 1706 Peace of Altranstädt, under which August II renounced the Polish crown. As can be seen, immediately after his abdication he did not cease to title himself King of Poland (REX POL), doing so only on the 1708 thalers (in whose place the shields were replaced by the royal monogram).
Dresden mint, with the initials of its mincmaster (Johann Lorenz Holland) and the mint mark hook.
