NEW BOOK: POLISH COPPER COINS OF AUGUSTUS III

Polish Copper Coins of Augustus III
By: Jerzy Chalupski

I would like to inform you that my new book on the Polish copper coins of August III Vettin is available in the Amazon store.

It, and my other catalogs, can be purchased here: http://bit.ly/4lPhkoA (printed or ebook).

The copper Crown coins of Augustus III were only two denominations minted in at least three mints during seven years with little coverage. Coins burdened with original sin - for all intents and purposes, they should all be treated as illegal issues, because:

• The issue, which we consider official, was launched without the approval of the Parliament and the Senate, and contrary to the Pacta Conventa. The coins were minted at three Saxon mints.
• Prussian mints began minting counterfeit silver Polish coins as early as 1754. Production continued and expanded to include copper coins after the Saxon mints were seized by Prussia during the Seven Years' War. Walther Haupt wrote that Polish copper pennies were minted in huge quantities at seven different Prussian mints - the profits went to Frederick the Great's treasury to cover the costs of war.
• Even before the Seven Years' War ended, Augustus III secretly ordered that pennies should be minted again at the newly established Grünthal Mint.

The myriad of varieties and variants guarantees that a collector interested in this area of Polish coinage will not soon get bored with the subject, among other advantages, great for research. Already by the mid-19th century, it was clear that little was known about the crown shillings and pennies of Augustus III, and little has changed since. Publications on the subject are scattered. We have catalogs, articles, and general studies, but:

• the reason for the large number of letter distinctions on shillings is not known,
• catalogs and other studies do not provide information about the mintage or the identity of designers and die makers,
• questions about the organization of the mints' work remain speculative,
• we are unsure when and where the different varieties and variants of coins were minted.

Collectors should also be motivated by the fact that discoveries of previously unrecorded varieties and variants of these coins are constantly appearing. My work is a summary of many years of research in archival sources, literature, and numismatic collections as well as building a collection of representative specimens of copper crown coins of Augustus III.

Some of my statements, especially those concerning assigning particular varieties to mints, may seem overly categorical. They should be taken as a starting point for discussion and analysis. Due to the lack of publications regarding the copper coins of Augustus III, any attempt to tackle this topic should bring us closer to unraveling the mysteries of this coinage. These coins have not yet been the subject of professional discussions in Poland. This part of Polish numismatics has been completely neglected for reasons that are not clear to me. If it has been the subject of research, it has rather been from economists and historians, and in numismatic matters more often by collectors than by scholars. It's a pity because representatives of science have much greater possibilities. They have easier access to archival and museum resources as well as the opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration, even in the field of interpreting and translating several hundred-year-old manuscripts. I hope that my work will encourage other collectors to share their discoveries and thoughts, and scientists to engage with the neglected modern numismatics, which deserves development no less than ancient or medieval numismatics.

For more information, or to order, see:
Polish Copper Coins of Augustus III (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FHKLX7QM)

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