Jagiellonians, Sigismund II Augustus (1548-1572), Polish foot penny 1567 L/LIT, Tykocin mint.
Coin with old patina, ends of L/LIT inscriptions.
The year 1567 is the penultimate year of minting pennies for the Polish foot in Tykocin.
Obverse: portrait of the king, below it the inscription POLO MAS DUX L, in the rim: SIGIS AUG REX
reverse: the Lithuanian Coat of Arms, below it the date, below crowned: the Royal Monogram SA and the Pale of Gediminas
legend in the rim: COIN MAGNI DUCA LITAS
Sigismund Augustus was already residing in Vilnius at the age of 9 as Grand Duke of Lithuania,
hence it is not surprising that he took a great liking to, and even fell in love with, the Duchy of Lithuania.
The borderlands between the Crown and the Duchy in general were among the favorite places of the
stay of the last Jagiellon, especially the areas of the Knyszynska Forest, where already as king of
Poland, he loved to hunt and spend time there. It was also where he died in the Knyszyn castle in 1572.
The coin on sale was minted on the border between the Crown and Lithuania in the town of Tykocin in 1567.
Coins minted in this small border mint between 1564 and 1572, headed by Voivode
Stanisław Myszkowski of Krakow, were of poor quality for numismatic coins of the second half of the 15th century
(the reason for the mint's closure in 1572), which is why such nicely minted and well-preserved
pieces are among the rarities on the numismatic market.
