Coins

Kazimierz the Great ordered a recoinage in XIV century. The new, grosz (grosh) system was based on a European one. 1 Cracovian grzywna = 197 grams of silver = 4 wiarunki = 24 skojce = 48 groszy (grosh) = 96 polgroszy (half grosh) = 96 denars. The gold coinage of Hungary was used in valuable transactions. This system had also been debased. Foreign coins of less value were brought to Poland. Different systems were used in the parts of country – Prussia and Lithuania had completely different coinage. All these factors caused a lot of havoc for trade.

Thorough reforms made in 1526 – 1528, the new zloty system was implemented. 1 zloty = 5 szostakow (~six…) = 10 trojakow (~three…) = 30 grosh. 1 grosh = 2 half grosh = 3 szelag = 6 ternars = 18 denars. 1 grosh = 0.77 grams of silver. The system was implemented in Prussia in 1538 and in Lithuania in 1569. Gold ducats of 3.5 grams of gold were struck then. In 1564 silver talars were introduced, the coin was meant to be equal to golden ducat. 1 talar = 5 orts. The system was stable until the beginning of XVII century. When during the reign of Zygmunt III the coins were debased again, also worthless German coins were brought in and took place of melted Polish coins. The crisis occurred strongly after the war with Sweden in the half of XVII century – the coinage was debased even more. In 1659 Boratyni was granted a licence to strike copper szelags, he exceeded the amount agreed in the licence. In 1663 Tymf begun to issue low value zlotys, that consisted half of the silver then in the regal coinage. Those coins were then given an obligatory value over intrinsic one – this situation continued till the end of reign of Saxon elector kings in Poland (1763). During the seven-year war (1756 – 1763) Prussians got the genuine dies and struck fakes of very low intrinsic value.

Brief history of Polish monetary system. Blazej Kwiatkowski, 1998

XV - XVI c.c. Crimean Khanat arises in the ruins of Golden Horde in the south of the Ukraine which started its own coinage on behalf of dynasty of khans Gireys. Autonomous Genoese-Tatar town Kaffa (now is Feodosiya) was formed in the Crimea in the middle of the XV c. This town also issued its own silver and copper coins. The town of Apocastro (now is Belgorod-Dnestrovskiy near Odessa) which got under the control of Moldavian Princedom issued copper coins and over-minted silver dirhams of Golden Horda. Moldavian coins were wide spread on the south-west lands of the Ukraine. In the middle of the XV c. Turkey occupied Constantinople and Byzantine Empire was collapsed. After that Turkish coins started spreading on Ukrainian territory.

XVII-the end of XVIII c.c. The coins of Poland and also her vassals and other European states such as Silesia, Riga, Danzig, Czech, Hungary, Sweden were very wide spread. On the begining of the second half of the XVII c. a great amount of silver kopecks of Moscow State and also "efimki" - European tallers which were over-minted in Moscow started spreading on the left shore of Ukraine. The coins of Crimean Khanat and Osttoman Empire still circulated on the south of Ukraine almost till the end of XVII c. At that time Russia almost liberated the South of Ukraine from Ottoman Empire and Crimean Khanat stopped its existance.

Odessa Museaum

Poland. Sigismund III. Ort. AR. XVII AD

http://www.museum.com.ua/en/editing/period6/index.html