The Bydgoszcz Mint

In the second half of the 16th century, the Commonwealth of Both Nations was a vast state and militarily strong. Its location in the heart of Europe on overland trade routes, as well as access to the Baltic Sea, favored the development of trade. But to be not merely a receptive sales market for other countries, but an equal partner, it also needed stable money. Efforts to heal the state's finances and create a monetary system that would favor its development were undertaken by King Stefan Batory (1576–1586). In 1578 a new minting ordinance was introduced, supplemented in 1580. It defined the denominations of the coins struck, the amount of silver and gold they contained, and their mutual relations. These provisions were common to Polish and Lithuanian coins. Supervision of the mints was entrusted to the treasurers of the Crown and of Lithuania. They leased the mints to successive persons and ensured that the contracts concluded with them were fulfilled. To meet the state's demand for coins, it was decided that they would be produced in various mints in parallel. As early as 1578 the Crown mint in Olkusz was opened, and later mints in Poznań and Łobżenica. Lithuanian coins were struck in Vilnius, coins for Royal Prussia in Malbork, and coins for the needs of those cities in Gdańsk and Riga. Mints also operated in territories that were fiefs of the Commonwealth, in Königsberg and Mitau. Due to high demand for Crown coins during the reign of Sigismund III Vasa (1587–1632), production was undertaken in further locations. From 1592 coins for the Crown were struck in Malbork, from 1594 in Wschowa and Bydgoszcz, and later also in Lublin and Kraków. In total, during the time of Sigismund III, 16 or 17 mints operated in the Commonwealth and its fiefs.

It is possible that the beginnings of minting in Bydgoszcz date back much earlier. Along with the location privilege granted by Casimir the Great in 1346, the town received the right to strike coins. It is not known, however, whether it ever made use of that right.

In the first half of 1594 Sigismund III Vasa granted a privilege to establish a mint in Bydgoszcz to Stanisław Cikowski of Wojsławice, of the Radwan coat of arms, Podkomorzy of the Kraków land. This mint, the private property of Cikowski, was to strike Crown coins for the whole country. They had to resemble coins struck in other mints, and Cikowski was also to pay the treasurer's chamber a sum of 332 zł 24 gr each year. One of the islands in a bend of the Brda was chosen as the site. Raising the banks made it possible to dam the flowing water and use its energy. The advantages of the place were its proximity to the town, and thus to supplies and quarters, as well as the transport possibilities the river offered. These qualities were appreciated in distant Kraków. On 29 July 1594 Cikowski's plenipotentiary signed a lease agreement for the mint with Walenty Jahns, who already leased the mints in Poznań and Wschowa. Besides fulfilling his obligations to the treasurer, Jahns was to pay Cikowski rent, probably amounting to 2000 zł. On 29 November in Bydgoszcz Jahns was sworn in as lessee and Henryk Hornbock as wardein, that is, assayer. Soon afterwards the mint began its work. From 1594 szelągi and trojaki, that is three-grosz coins, are known. They can be distinguished from analogous coins of other mints by the initials and coat of arms of Stanisław Cikowski and Walenty Jahns. In subsequent years the range of coins produced here was extended with further silver denominations, groszes and szóstaki, that is six-grosz coins. A more important change in the appearance of the coins came in 1598, when the letter B, marking the place of striking, began to be placed instead of the initials and coats of arms. This resulted from an ordinance issued by the treasurer that applied to all mints. On 13 March 1601, by resolution of the Sejm, work in all Crown mints was suspended except one, in Kraków or Olkusz. The text of the constitution issued by the Sejm contains a clear allusion to the Bydgoszcz mint, with the accusation that it grows rich on…