Poland, John Casimir, Crown, 1666 collector's half-tone with Archangel.
Silver, 19.2 mm, 1.09 g.
Condition I-.
The coin depicts the normal elements of the 1666 crown halftrack of Jan Kazimierz from the Cracow mint (e.g. https://onebid.pl/pl/monety-jan-ii-kazimierz-poltorak-1666-krakow-pol-rzadki/222822), except for the coat of arms on the obverse, where the five-field shield of the coats of arms of Poland, Lithuania and the Vasa dynasty is replaced by the Archangel with a lowered sword and scabbard in his hands, known as the modern coat of arms of Kyiv province. The two volutes next to the shield also have no counterpart on the known half-track. No district coins of the Republic of Poland are known except for provinces and cities with previous minting rights - Royal Prussia, Lithuania, Gdansk, Wschowa, Poznan, Elblag, Torun - or approved by well-known legal acts: Riga. The only exception is Lobznica, the private minting right of the Krotoski family, but here too we have a minting well known to historical sources. Indeed, the Livonian war minting is an example of a coinage of special circumstances, also well known from historical sources. There were no legal or political conditions for minting coins with the coat of arms of Kyiv province, and this was done in 1666, when the project of the Hadziac Union finally collapsed. Nor are there any known accounts that even mention the project of such minting. One detail is particularly anachronistic: the crowning of the shield with the coat of arms of Kyiv province with a royal crown. As is known, even the shield with the Coat of Arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was crowned with a cap (mitre) appropriate to the rank of grand duke. The entire figure of the Archangel was most likely copied from Niesiecki's coat of arms, the 1839 edition. In our opinion, the coin is a collector's product, probably created in the 19th century. It cannot be called a forgery, as it does not imitate the real type, but is a creative (patriotic?) creation inspired by the half-tracks of Jan Kazimierz. A very interesting curiosity with great aesthetic value.
