An impressive and rare donative of Ladislaus IV.
The minting of the second of the Vasa dynasty on the Polish throne was recorded with "coarse" coinage. This had to do with the ban on minting small denominations, introduced during the reign of Sigismund III, and maintained until the beginning of the reign of John II Casimir. Thus, during the reign of Ladislaus IV, thaler and ducat coins were minted, and some of the most beautiful numismatic items from his time are precisely the donatives, in the production of which Gdańsk was the leader.
The first Wladyslaw donatives from Gdansk were created in 1634/35 and were maintained in the iconography of the donatives of the time of Sigismund III - with a representation of the ruler on the obverse and a coat of arms cartouche on the reverse. It was only over the years, in 1644, that their style was changed, placing a panorama of the city on the reverse, as we see on the present piece.
Donative from 1647, weight of two ducats, by the prominent Danzig medalist Jan Höhn the elder.
A very nice piece with lots of natural mint mirror.
Variety with a flower branch horizontally referred to as R6 in the catalog"Gold of the times of the Vasa dynasty".
Gold, diameter 31.5 mm, weight 6.96 g.
Comes with an envelope from the old collection and a SPINK auction card.
Obverse: bust of the king to the right, wearing crown and armor decorated with braid and rivets, collar and Order of the Golden Fleece., with lined crown collar. In the rim:
VLAD IIII D G REX POL & SVEC M D L RVS PRVS
Reverse: a panorama of the city between a sun shield with rays (God's name in Hebrew inside), and a city shield held by lions. On the sides of the lions the date and initials G-R. In the rim:
EX AURO SOLIDO CIVITAS GEDANENSIS FIERI F (flower with horizontal branch).
