A prized historical thaler called the Targowitz thaler, sought after and desirable typologically.
Variety with a five-pointed star.
A specimen piece in full mint condition. Exemplary minting quality.
A phenomenal coin with an exceptionally fresh mint mirror, even with a mirror effect!
Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful pieces that was offered at auctions in Poland. The awarded note from NGC, although excellent, does not reflect the uniqueness of the offered piece. A beautiful coin that impresses with its depth of luster!
During the first two years of the reign of Stanislaw Augustus, municipal mints operated in Gdansk and Torun (1765 and 1766). However, these cities were forced to close them. This was because the king intended to recover from the monetary chaos left over from the Saxon era and introduce a new monetary system. Its basis was to be the Dutch ducat and the thaler minted from the Cologne fine (pure silver) in 10 pieces. The reform came into effect in 1766, and the monetary circulation of the Republic included fine and full-value coins: ducats, thalers, zlotys, pennies and their fractions and multiples. The fact that these were full-value coins caused them to be pulled from the market and melted down into lower-quality Prussian coins. For this reason, the monetary system was revised twice, including changing the minting rate (1787 and 1794). During the reign of Stanislaw Augustus, two state mints worked: the Cracow and Warsaw mints.
During the reign of Stanislaw August, the Warsaw mint minted thalers according to three different mint ordinances. The monetary system introduced in 1766 established the production of 10 thalers from one cologne fine of pure silver (233.8123 g). They had a value of 8 zlotys. They were minted from sterling silver of the 13th 1/3rd of a flake. They weighed 28.057 g and contained 23.381 g of pure bullion. Similarly, semi-talars also minted from XIII 1/3-arc silver weighed 14.028 g and contained 11.690 g of pure silver. It soon became apparent that the coins issued by the Warsaw mint conforming to this standard were too good. They were pulled from the market en masse and exported abroad, and were punched into much inferior Prussian thalers in terms of silver content. The Polish minting authorities responded in 1787 by lowering the standard of thalers and half-thalers. They were now to be minted in thirteenth-gallon silver, were to weigh 27.570 g (semi-talars - 13.785 g) and contain 22.401 pure silver (semi-talars - 11.200 g). The direction of the reform was correct. However, the depth of the changes proved insufficient. Polish thalers continued to outperform Prussian ones. The procedure described above of pulling them off the market and melting them into inferior coinage was still profitable. The last reform was introduced during the Kosciuszko Uprising. The thalers of 1794 and 1795 were already worth 6 zlotys. They were minted from XI-gold silver, weighed 24.148 grams and contained 16.602 grams of pure silver. The 1794 monetary system no longer included semi-talars. The changes proved to be appropriate. Pulling thalers off the market and punching them into Prussian thalers was no longer profitable. However, the reform proved to be overdue. In 1795, the Polish state ceased to exist. In terms of artistic value, the thalers of Stanislaw August are among the most beautiful Polish coins. Their designs were prepared and executed by the most outstanding engravers of the Stanislavski era. From 1766 the engraver of the stamps at the Warsaw mint was Jan Filip Holzhaeusser (d. 1792).
