Emily Chan
During the 16th and 17th centuries, these coins were used in European trade and exported to Spanish colonies.
Several of the coins feature the faces of European rulers. One thaler from 1630 depicts Sigismund III Vasa, who was the king of Poland from 1587 to 1632, along with Sweden from 1592 to 1599. It even contained the initials of the coin’s creator.
An identical coin in much worse condition was sold last year at an auction for more than 86,000 Polish zlotys, the equivalent of about $21,000.
Another coin, which was a 1623 thaler, was only minted for two years, so it was a very rare find. Many of the coins were made during the Thirty Years’ War, one of the most devastating conflicts in European history. Between 1618 and 1648, conflict, disease, and famine occurred.
The oldest coin in the collection was created between 1564 and 1587. The most recent dates to 1641. It is unclear how the coins wound up buried near Pomiechówek.
“We suspect that one of the soldiers lost his pay,” Sygacz said. “Another assumption is that the burial was made by a merchant who wanted to hide his property from potential robbers—there was an inn about a kilometer away [during] the 16th century, and we know from earlier discoveries of similar deposits that it was a common practice to hide valuables before visiting an inn.”
The coin hoard was handed over to the Mazovian Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments and will eventually be placed in a museum.
