The background of the monetary history of the Commonwealth during the reign of Sigismund Vasa was the progressive monetary crisis caused by the situation in Germany and the influx of the spodleniated German coinage into Poland. Initially, the mint rate was determined by Stefan Batory's ordinance of 1580. With the crisis deepening, in 1601 it was decided to raise the mint rate, i.e. devalue the denominations in circulation. The following years saw further legislation lowering the silver content of various denominations. Of these, the most important was the Ordinance of 1623. It introduced a stable monetary system, based on the monetary system of the Empire. During the reign of Sigismund III, new denominations appeared in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - three-cornered coins, halves and orts. On the other hand, in 1621, the highest denomination in the history of Polish money - the hundred-drachma - was minted at the Bydgoszcz mint. This was the crowning achievement of the intensive issuance of gold coins during the reign of Sigismund III. Crown mints (Olkusz, Wschowa, Poznań, Malbork, Bydgoszcz, Lublin, Kraków, Warsaw), Lithuanian mints (Vilnius), municipal mints (Gdańsk, Elbląg, Toruń, Riga, Poznań, Wschowa) and a private mint in Łobżenica worked during this period. Sigismund Vasa's Swedish coins were issued by mints in Stockholm, Rewal and Malbork. In 1627, a decision was made to stop issuing small coinage. This decision remained in force until 1650.
The ruler who initiated the issuance of orts in Poland was Sigismund Vasa. The first pieces of the new denomination appeared in Gdansk. In 1608 the mint released proof orts ("preliminary issue", "specimen coins"), known today in only a few pieces. They exhibit minting features, rather than embossing features like orts from subsequent years. Production of orts as circulation coins began in 1609. The name ort ("orth") comes from Old High German and means quarter. It referred to the value of the coin at the time - ¼ of a thaler. In 1618, the crown mint in Bydgoszcz joined the Danzig mint as a producer of orths. The orts were magnificent coins, initially stamped from silver of good 14-ounce quality. They weighed an average of 6.958 grams and contained 6.089 grams of pure silver. Due to the monetary crisis that characterized much of Sigismund Vasa's reign, mint ordinances changed the standard of orts three times. In 1615 it was decided that they were to be stamped from sterling silver, their weight was set at 6.726 grams, and their pure silver content at 5.676 grams. In the following year another change took place. The standard of orts was lowered again (sample XIII, weight 6.427 g, pure silver 5.222 g). In 1621, the last change was made (trial XI, weight 7.207 g, pure silver 4.955 g).
