Silesia, Duchy of Krosno, Jan of Kostrzyn, penny 1546, mens. Krosno.
Av. +IOHAN D G MAR BRANDEN ET STE.
Rv. GROSS AR IOHAN MAR BRAND I546 (ND in ligature).
Silver, 2.10 g, 22.8 mm. Kopicki 6032 (R2); Friedensburg and Seger 1993; Korecki G.46.95 (RRR - did not obtain photo).
Condition III+, a very nicely minted and well-preserved piece.
The minting activities of Margrave John of Kostrzyn, the district ruler of Brandenburg, were a typical monetary diversion aimed at Poland, undertaken in imitation of the actions of his close relative, the Piast prince of Legnica, Frederick II. The margrave began this issue as a Silesian prince (the Duchy of Krosno had been separated from that of Glogow), but when King Ferdinand I of Bohemia, as the fief superior of Silesia, demanded that he produce documents certifying his minting right, John invoked the fact that he was the Margrave of Brandenburg (thus transforming the Silesian coinage into New Margrave coinage). In both Poland and Bohemia, the authorities took action against this pirate issue at the beginning of 1546, and the pennies of that year - the last year of issue - are much rarer than previous ones, and specimens with a cross in front of the margrave's name are particularly rare.
