|
Bohemia, Vaclav II.
Prague Gross
(silver coin replica) 1278 - 1305 AD.
OBV: Two lines of
inscriptions within dotted circles +DEI : GRATIA : REX : BOEMIE, +
WENCEZLAVS SECVNDVS, crown in center field.
R: x+x GROSSI : PRAGENSES.
Czech double tailed crowned lion rampant left.
The Prague Gross is famous Czech silver coinage
first struck in Kutná Hora in 1300 by king Wenceslas II. (1283-1305)
based on a coinage reform that he commissioned to Italian financiers.
The obverse of the coin bears a relief of the Czech crown and the name
of the ruler, and the reverse the Czech lion which had not changed for
almost two hundred and fifty years of its coinage. The type reads GROSSI
PRAGENSES (from some unclear reason in plural). As opposed to the
preceding Denarius and Bracteat coins which were relatively light weight
(approx. 1 g), the new coinage was heavier (originally about 3.8 g). It
was accordingly referred to as "denarius grossus" = heavy
Denar, which gave rise to its name GROSS. Its introduction was enabled
by the extensive silver mining in Kutná Hora. The mintage ended in 1547
under the reign of Ferdinand I.
Wenceslaus II
Premyslid (Czech Václav,
Polish Wac³aw)
(September 17, 1271 - June 21,
1305). King
of Bohemia
(1278 - 1305). Duke of
Krakow
(1291 - 1305). King of
Poland
(1300 - 1305).
Wenceslaus II was the son of Ottokar II "The
Great", King of Bohemia, and Kunegunda,
daughter of Rostislav, the
Grand Duke of Kyiv.
His father died on August 26, 1278, shortly
before Wenceslaus' seventh birthday. His early reign was tainted by the
abuses of power exercised by his regent, Otto, Margrave of Brandenburg,
and later by his mother's secret husband, Zavis
of Falckenstein. On January 24, 1285 he
married Judith (Jutta) von Habsburg, daughter of Holy Roman
Emperor Rudolf I.
In 1290
Wenceslaus had Zavis beheaded, and began ruling independently. In 1291 he was
invited by a group of Polish Lords to take over the duchy of Krakow,
and in 1300
he was crowned the king of Poland. He was planning to invade Austria
when he died in 1305.
He was succeeded by his son, Wenceslaus III,
the last of the Premyslid kings.
In 1298, silver was discovered at Kutná
Hora, on the border between Bohemia and Moravia. Wenceslaus took
control of the mine by making silver production a royal monopoly. Kutna
Hora was one of the richest European silver strikes ever: between 1300
and 1340, the mine may have produced as much as 20 tonnes of silver a
year.
Wenceslaus' daughter with
Judith, Elizabeth (Eliska), married John
"The Blind" of Luxembourg. Judith died in 1297
Wenceslaus' second wife
was Ryksa Elzbieta, daughter of Przemysl II,
King of Poland 1295
- 1296.
(She married Rudolf III
of Austria after Wenceslaus' death).
(Source: WIKIPEDIA) |
