Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 1717. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $1400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

POLAND. Mieszko III. 1173-1202. AR Bracteate (0.20 gm). Gnesen (Gniezno) mint. Struck 1181-1202. Half-length facing armored bust, holding sword and banner; outer margin with striations interspersed with uncertain Hebrew letters, x in left field. Gumowsi, Hebraische 180; Freidenberg pg. 21, 19; cf. Kopicki 108; cf. Hutten-Czapski 6907. Good VF. Slightly sharper strike than the Karolkiewicz specimen (Triton IV, 6 December 2000, lot 2033). Rare. ($500)

From the Robert Schonwalter Collection.

Gumowski comments on the difficulty of confirming the Hebrew letters on these crudely struck coins. The most common interpretations have been "gnaz' for the mint or "dks" for Duke. On this specimen, there appears to be one clear letter, at 12:00- "sin". This lends credence to the third possible reading- "mska" for Mieszko.

The turbulent reign of Mieszko III saw the Jews of Poland granted extraordinary economic powers. They had always had an important role as jewelers, goldsmiths and moneylenders (the last occupation barred to Christians), but under Mieszko they undertook the minting of coins for his realm. This was a rather cynical ploy on his part, because one of his first actions upon coming to the throne was a drastic reduction in the coinage standard, bringing about the striking of tiny, lightweight bracteates, which were extremely unpopular. Partly as a result, Mieszko was deposed in 1177 and Poland descended into chaos, with rival lords carving up the country. Mieszko returned to the throne in 1181, and that is when he granted formal control of the mint at Gniezno to the Jews of that city. This is the period when Hebrew letters, words and even personal names appear on the coins of that mint. Other rare coins with Hebrew legends appear at Kalisch, controlled by Mieszko the Younger and Inowroclaw, under Bolislaus, both sons of the elder Mieszko. There is still debate about whether later kings issued coins with Jewish legends at Gniezno. It is known that Premislaus I (1238-1257) accepted a large loan from the Jews of that city to maintain his position, and some of the coins with the legend "brcha" -a blessing (a "Godsend"?) might have been from his reign or that of his son Premislaus II (1279-1296). Jews continued to play an important role in Polish finances in later centuries, but never again would their position be so publicly on display. Jacob Jacobson (following lots) was a Jewish mintmaster working in Poland for the Swedish king Sigismund III.