One of the most typologically desirable thalers of Sigismund III - the light thaler!
A very rare and equally historically interesting issue, absent from many advanced collections. It was with them that a Bajonian ransom (3 million zlotys(!)) was to be paid to the Turkish Sultan for, among others, the headless body of Hetman Zolkiewski.
The light thalers, also known as kopeks or zlotys (due to the numerals 60 and 30 present on the reverses), were an issue lasting only four years. The first of these were minted in 1620, taking advantage of the lack of a minting ordinance regulating the minting of thaler coins. They clearly differed from ordinary thalers (also known as heavy, imperial thalers) only in weight - the ratio was 7:5 (28.8 to just under 20 grams).
As we read in Jan Dostych, "this is probably why light thalers were paid for Hetman Stanislaw Zolkiewski," as the issue coincides with the fate of the hero of the Battle of Klushino (where he smashed the Russian and Swedish armies several times larger). He died in October 1620 during the Battle of Cecora. He was deprived of his head, which "adorned" the entrance of the sultan's palace on a pica, while an astronomical ransom - 3,000,000 zlotys - was demanded for his body and still living son. He was to be repaid by the widow, who was to be helped to collect the amount by the Polish public.
The present coin is a very rare second issue. This is confirmed both by the "Catalogue of Thalers of Sigismund III" (1 of 9 known pieces (!), of which as many as 4 are museum pieces), and by the fact that a new reverse stamp was not prepared for its issue, but a reworked stamp from the previous year was used (piercing the last digit of the date from O to 1 and changing the denomination from 60 to 30).
Piece from our auction 16, after professional restoration.
