Struck during the interregnum following the flight of Henri de Valois — who abandoned the Polish throne in 1574 to claim the French crown — Gdańsk exercised autonomous minting authority in the power vacuum before Stefan Batory's election was settled. The city had long operated with exceptional commercial independence under its Prussian privileges, and the interregnum gave its mint unusual latitude to produce coinage without royal sanction.
Kopicki lists two distinct varieties under 7384 and 7385, distinguished by minor die differences that reflect the hurried, semi-official nature of the issue.
Struck during the interregnum following the flight of Henri de Valois — who abandoned the Polish throne in 1574 to claim the French crown — Gdańsk exercised autonomous minting authority in the power vacuum before Stefan Batory's election was settled. The city had long operated with exceptional commercial independence under its Prussian privileges, and the interregnum gave its mint unusual latitude to produce coinage without royal sanction.
Kopicki lists two distinct varieties under 7384 and 7385, distinguished by minor die differences that reflect the hurried, semi-official nature of the issue.