A historically important Polish patronage brakteat with St. Adalbert and the prince beautifully depicted.
The coin was once called a penitential coin, seeing it as a reference to Prince Boleslaw's pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Adalbert in Gniezno in 1113. It referred to penance for the blinding and death of his older brother, Zbigniew.
It was not until Richard Kiersnowski linked this coin to Boleslaw the Wrymouth's manifesto after the Polish prince paid tribute in Merseburg before Emperor Lotar III. He dated the event to around 1135. The iconography was supposed to proclaim that the Polish prince was under the protection of St. Adalbert, hence the designation of brakteats of this type as patronage coins.
Vytautas Garbaczewski's research, on the other hand, has shed a different light on the essence of the issue of this brakteat. Mr. Garbaczewski sees it as the result of a monetary reform from the end of the reign of the Wrymouth, aimed at replenishing the treasury to pay tribute to Lotar III, and dates the type to 1137.
A beautiful piece, very well struck, with luster and charming patina.
For the best collections - definitely recommended.
obverse: St. Adalbert standing straight ahead, with his head facing left, holding a pastoral in his left hand, his right hand raised in a gesture of care for the kneeling prince, with a legend around it
