Mint reform

From the beginning of his reign, Stanisław August Poniatowski strove to reform the Commonwealth under the Russian protectorate. The country, mired in anarchy, needed to repair not only the political system, whose defects made it weak, but also to rebuild the economy, which was a prerequisite for economic strength. Important in this context was the reform of money, carried out through the Mint Commission established in 1765. As a result, the Mint of Warsaw, financed by the King, began operating in 1766, minting beautifully designed and good-quality reformed coins. Apart from a few issues of municipal coins, this was the first money produced in Poland for over eighty years.

The work of the mint reform is commemorated by two medals created on the initiative of the mint's commissioners and designed by court medallist Jan Filip Hozhaeusser. The obverse of the first one depicts an altar with a burning fire, decorated with floral motifs, while the reverse shows the seated goddess Juno-Moneta, holding in her right hand a medallion with the portrait of the king, and in her left hand a horn of plenty with spilling coins. However, the stamps of this medal proved to be perishable and after a dozen or so pieces were struck, they were damaged. Therefore, a second series was commissioned, an example of which is the work under discussion. On the obverse, against the background of the royal castle and King Sigismund's column, the goddess Juno-Moneta is depicted holding a medallion with a portrait of Stanisław August and pouring out coins from a horn of plenty. She is accompanied by a mint press and a coin balance. The representation is surrounded by a Latin inscription, which translates as: Success and public industry a guarantee and multiplication, as well as the date MDCCLXVI and the author's signature. The reverse of the medal is filled with an inscription in twelve lines: To Stanislaus Augustus, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, the Mint Commissioners, on account of the blessing of good money restored to the homeland with their own expense after the lapse of a century from the corruption of the coin, give, offer and consecrate this perpetual memento of the gratitude of the nation.

Originally, the medals were struck in silver, and one specimen from the first series was also struck in gold weighing 65 ducats (226.83 g). It was given to the king on the third anniversary of his coronation. Medals struck in bronze, like our copy, are of a later date.

Tomasz Markiewicz