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Denar - Sigismund II August
| Issuer | Grand Duchy of Lithuania |
|---|---|
| Year | 1546-1599 |
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| Composition | Billon (.219 silver) |
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| Obverse description | The Pahonia (Pursuer), the armored knight on horseback, depicted in right-facing gallop occupying the entire field; the rider bears a sword raised above his head in his right hand and a shield on his left arm, the shield charged with a double cross. The date, here reading 1557, appears in Arabic numerals in the lower field beneath the horse, flanked by a small six-pointed star mintmark. The design is executed in the bold, somewhat crude style characteristic of hammered billon issues of Vilnius, with no surrounding legend. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | 1557 |
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| Additional information |
Sigismund II August ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland for decades, but it was his 1569 Union of Lublin that restructured the political world these coins inhabited — merging Lithuania into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and effectively subordinating its separate monetary apparatus. Denars struck before and after that union exist under the same royal name yet belong to two different political orders. The billon content, already low, reflects chronic silver shortages that plagued Lithuanian minting throughout the mid-sixteenth century.
The extended date range across this type reflects die reuse and administrative inertia rather than continuous fresh production.