1/2 Groat półgrosz - Sigismund I

The Lithuanian półgrosz was Sigismund I's primary instrument for integrating Lithuanian coinage more closely with Polish monetary practice — a project reflecting his broader effort to bind the two crowns into a coherent administrative unit without formally merging them. The Vilnius mint produced these throughout the 1520s, a decade when Ottoman pressure on the southern frontier and intermittent war with Muscovy kept the Grand Duchy in a state of expensive semi-mobilization.

The billon content drifted noticeably across the issue's lifespan, with later strikes generally showing reduced silver fineness — a mint-level response to chronic fiscal strain rather than any formal debasement decree.