The Treasure of Forgery Poltoraks of Sigismund III Vasa from Haiove Village, Vinnytsia Region
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15407/uhj2025.02.098Keywords:
counterfeit coin, monetary circulation of 16—17th centuries, half grosz coins (poltorak), coin technologies, coin minting, stamp die, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sigismund III VasaAbstract
The purpose is to introduce into scientific circulation a hoard of 17th-century coins from the village of Haiove, Vinnytsia region, with its analysis and identification of its features. The article analyzes the features and composition of the hoard of forged one-and-a-halfers with the date 1619, minted during the reign of Sigismund III Vasa in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1587—1632). The treasure was found in 2021.
To determine the features of the studied coin hoard, the different scientific approaches were applied using a special numismatic method — the die analysis, as well as comparison, analysis, and synthesis but special precise physical measurements were not used. All the coins from the hoard are forgery counterfeits made to the detriment of monetary circulation.
The scientific novelty lies in the significant value of studying individual hoards consisting exclusively of counterfeits to the detriment of circulation, which occurs extremely rarely in the form of a separate complex and not as single finds or a certain proportion of counterfeit coins in the hoard. The total weight of the Haiove treasure is 740 g, and the average weight of the single coin is 1.1 g, which corresponds to the metric standards of that period. The coin blanks have different thicknesses; most of them are made of copper, but the surface of the two coins (0.32 %) was covered with silver. All coins are made with one pair of dies by minting on a copper blank with subsequent silver plating, imitating one and a half grosz with the date 1619. Perhaps all coins were made by a person with working experience at the mint. The described hoard of counterfeit coins has opened a new page for us in the monetary circulation of Podillia and the peculiarities of the activities of counterfeiters in this region.
The conclusions. The originality of the complex lies in the fact that all the coins have the same minting date — 1619 and were made using the same die stamps. Presumably, the counterfeiters planned to distribute the new counterfeit 1 and 1/2 groszes in small batches along with coins in circulation, which could not arouse suspicion on the market. With a high degree of probability, in the first half of the 17th century, in the area where the treasure was found, a separate, well-established, and organized counterfeiting workshop was operating.
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