2 Denars - Sigismund II August

Sigismund II August inherited the Grand Duchy of Lithuania separately from the Polish Crown and maintained distinct coinage for each — a deliberate assertion of dual sovereignty during decades of pressure toward full dynastic union. These small billon denars circulated alongside the Polish equivalent but were struck specifically for Lithuanian markets, a distinction that would become moot after the 1569 Union of Lublin formally merged the two states into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Lithuanian series effectively ended with that political absorption.

The Kopicki reference spans six varieties (3223–3228), distinguished primarily by mint mark placement and die alignment details.