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500 Zlotys Hedwig I
| Issuer | Mint of Poland (Mennica Polska) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1988 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Milled |
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| Reverse description | A forward-facing bust portrait of Queen Jadwiga (Hedwig I of Poland) dominates the reverse field, depicted in regal medieval attire with an ornate crown atop her flowing hair. She wears a multi-strand pearl necklace and an elaborately decorated mantle secured with a large brooch, conveying her royal dignity. A sceptre surmounted by a cross is visible to the lower left of the portrait. The legend JADWIGA arcs along the upper left periphery, and the regnal dates 1384·1399 arc along the upper right, together framing the portrait in Latin script. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Hedwig of Anjou — crowned King (not Queen) of Poland in 1384, the title deliberately masculine to signal full regal authority rather than consort status — was canonized by John Paul II in 1997, nearly a decade after this coin was struck. The 1988 issue preceded that canonization, situating it within Polish communist-era numismatic production, when the state mint issued cultural and historical silver series that often carried more ideological freight than monetary function. Hedwig's union with Jagiełło and the subsequent Christianization of Lithuania gave her sustained political utility as a symbol across wildly different regimes.