ABSTRACT:
Among the cross pennies of later types, contained in the hoard from Słuszków near Kalisz and dated to after 1105, there are 73 obols — coins worth half a penny. The coins from the Słuszków hoard are dated to the period from the second half of the 11th century to the beginning of the 12th century. The assemblage is dominated by specimens with the image of a beaded cross and individual coins featuring a simple cross, a crosier as well as a crosier, a ring and a banner — types V, VI, VII and VIII according to M. Gumowski’s typology. Most probably, all the obols were struck by bishop’s mints in the archdiocese of Magdeburg.
SUMMARY:
In the early Middle Ages, the smallest denomination of coins used across Latin Europe was the obol. The most frequent finds of the coin, dated to the second half of the 10th century and the beginning of the 11th century come mainly from Germany, Bohemia and Hungary. The high silver content of the pennies at the time necessitated the production of smaller denominations, used for concluding small trade transactions, particularly in the countries where the coins’ origin. In the Polish lands small transactions involved predominantly fragments of coins, which constituted the dominant part of the hoard material from the times of Mieszko I and Boleslaus I the Brave. The debasement of pennies throughout the 11th century resulted in both obols and coin fragments disappearing from hoards. Almost of all of the late cross pennies CNP 813 and 867–869 from the Słuszków hoard, dated to the end of the 11th century and the beginning of the 12th century were not divided. The coins produced for the longest period of time (until the beginning of the 12th century) discovered in the Polish lands were cross obols. The largest collection of the coins comes from the hoard discovered in Słuszków near Kalisz and dated to after 1105. The assemblage contains 13061 coins, mainly early variants of cross pennies from the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century.
Due to the lack of some types of cross obols in the most complete classification of the cross coins in Marian Gumowski’s Corpus Nummorum Poloniae, the typology based on the obols from the Słuszków hoard is presented.
The earliest variant, SoV-1, similar to CNP 674, has on its obverse the older version of the beaded cross (beads along the quadrangle). In all certainty, it is dated to before the half of the 11th century. Chronologically, the second type of obol in the Słuszków assemblage is the SoV-2 variant, not recorded in CNP. The artefact relates to a group of cross pennies from the so-called transitional group with a beaded cross, where some signs were arranged along the quadrangle and some along a circle. It may be dated to the half of the 11th century. The next five variants of cross obols, SoV-3 — SoV-7, are similar to CNP 677, their margins are wide enough for the legend to be legible. The obverse features the younger beaded cross, most often with 12 beads. The coins were minted in the third quarter of the 11th century. The next group of obols comprises variants SoV-8 — Sov-16, characterised by relatively narrow margins, which translates into only partial legibility of the characters. On the obverse there is the younger beaded cross. The obols may be dated back to the turn of the 4th quarter of the 11th century. The youngest group of cross obols from Słuszków are coins classified as variants SoV-17 — SoV-21. On the obverse they have a beaded cross with eight or nine beads. They may be dated to the last quarter of the 11th century. There are two more obols that may be identified as cross obols with beaded crosses, classified as variants SoVA-1 and SoVA-2. The specimens feature a beaded cross whose two arms are represented as prolonged triangles, similarly to the crossing of the crosier on the younger variants of type VII cross obols. In all probability, the coins may be dated to the turn of the 4th quarter of the 11th century. In the Słuszków hoard, the type VI cross obols with the simple cross are represented by one specimen of the SoVI-1 variant (CNP 876), dated probably to the last two decades of the 11th century.
The Słuszków hoard contains only one type VII obol — SoVII-1. The coin shows a short, crossed crosier, to the left, with a narrow crook, ending with a large dot. The coin may be dated to the last quarter of the 11th century. The last and probably the youngest group of obols comprises type VIII specimens of the SoVIII-1 type (CNP 1029). Obols of this type are known mostly from the Polabian region and can be dated to the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century. In all certainty, all the cross obols from the Słuszków hoard were struck in Saxony, in mints of Magdeburg, Halle-Giebichenstein, Merseburg, Naumburg and perhaps Meissen, a fact confirmed by the artefacts discovered in Polabia. The large number of the coins known from Greater Poland — the region of Poland lying closest to Magdeburg, testifies to the Saxon origin of the cross obols from the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century.
ABSTRACT:
The main objective of the article is to organise our knowledge about the coinage of the last years of Boleslaus IV the Curly’s reing, based on the coins from the medieval Głogów hoard and the hoard from Dąbrowa Górnicza-Łosień. A very rare penny of the Stronczyński 54 type with the image of a rider on its obverse and the reverse with the name BOLЄZLAV/BOLЄZLVS, inscribed into three arches will be described in detail. The text will present the latest results of the study of the coin (including the traces of overstrikes), weight analysis and the types of dies and their combinations.
SUMMARY:
The article was created based on a paper of the same title, presented at the International Numismatic Conference, „Numismatica Centroeuropea III” in Bystrzyca Kłodzka. In the recent years, owing to the discovery of the Dąbrowa Górnicza-Łosień hoard, the studies on Boleslaus IV the Curly’s coinage have gained momentum. Its analysis provided an impulse for conducting similar studies on the ruler’s coins from the medieval Głogów hoard, discovered in 1987. Four types of pennies, occurring in small numbers, have been published so far and the time has come to publish the fifth penny, classified as type 54 according to Kazimierz Stronczyński. 220 pennies were analysed for the purpose of this article.
The initial objects of the analysis were the obverse and reverse images, categorised into variants and variations. Seven obverse and three reverse variants were distinguished. Additionally, within each variant a few to several variations, differing in small details, were also identified. Each variant has been described in a table. The coins were then examined in terms of their dies combination, and the results have been presented in the form of a diagram.
The next stage involved the comparison of the data obtained for the Str. 54 penny with that of its predecessors, published in the monograph of the Dąbrowa Górnicza-Łosień hoard. While comparing the weights, the data provided by Professor Suchodolski in his book “Mennictwo polskie w XI i XIII wieku/Polish coinage in the 11th and 12th century” was also referred to. The weights of all five types were presented in the form of a histogram. Another interpretation of the overstrikes, observed on coins from the medieval Głogów hoard, was also published. The Str. 54 penny opened a series of subsequently overstruck pennies. A hypothesis was proposed that some of the coins ascribed previously to Boleslaus IV the Curly might have been struck by Boleslaus I the Tall, son of Vladislaus II the Exile. The verification of the hypothesis requires further studies on the coins from the medieval Głogów hoard which participated in this unusual sequence of overstrikes. Unfortunately, there are still over several thousand of such coins to be examined. Finally, 17 type Str. 54 pennies discovered outside the medieval Głogów hoard were published. They come from the hoards from Anusin and Golice, single finds from Masłowice and Wilkowice and from private collections. The coins were examined in the same manner and included in the catalogue of die variants and varieties and the diagram of die combinations.
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