ZŁOTÓWKA: COIN OF POLAND
Zlotowka, 1766: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Ruler: Stanisław August Poniatowski (Stanislaus II Augustus) — King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
4 GR - LXXX EX MARCA PURA COL: 4 grosze - The 80th part /Latin number "LXXX" = "80"/ of a pure Cologne mark (weight unit of mass of precious metals in Europe at the time).
Coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time of Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski: crown, wreath, two eagles as a symbol of Poland and two knights as a symbol of Lithuania; in the center — a bull calf (Polish "Ciołek"; the ruler’s family coat of arms).
Warsaw Mint: mintmaster's mark "FS" (Friedrich Wilhelm Sylm).
STANISLAUS AUG. D. G. REX POL. M. D. L.: Stanislaw August, by God's grace, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania.
Portrait of Stanisław August Poniatowski.
Mintage: 4.139.000.
- Silver (0.550): 27 mm - 4.9 g
- Reference price: 22$
COIN ZŁOTÓWKA — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH (1762-1795): zlotówka = 4 grosz (silver)
ZŁOTÓWKA as coin name.
Złotówka — unofficial name of a Polish silver coin with a denomination of 4 silver grosz (equivalent to 30 copper grosz), minted in 1762-1795.
In fact, the name zlotówka has never appeared on Polish coins (only on the 2020 collectible commemorative non-circulating coin). This is a conventional name that was used in everyday spoken language... This is the name given to a number of coins that preceded the appearance of the first money signs with a denomination expressed directly in złoty.
The earliest coin of this type, the so-called Złotówka gdańska, dates from 1762.
Silver coins of Stanisław August Poniatowski, whose denomination is indicated as 4 grosze (4 GR.), are most often called zlotówka. The appearance of all these coins that were minted for almost 30 years in a row is as similar as possible: the portrait of the ruler and his coat of arms (based on the coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). There is also a characteristic inscription: LXXX EX MARCA PURA COLON — that is, the 80th part of a pure Cologne mark of silver. On later types, a different ratio was indicated: instead of the 80th part, 83 ½ and even 84 ½ were indicated. In numismatic catalogs this coin is called Złotówka koronna.
Some numismatic sources designate as złotówka also 30-gross silver coins of previous (before 1762) years, for example tymf. But this statement is debatable.
The name of the coin złotówka obviously echoes the name złoty. Złotówka, relatively speaking, became an early zloty, its prototype.
