Your guide to old coins
oldcoins.info
All coins » Wenceslaus II Prague penny
One of the largest monetary and coin reforms, the reform of Wenceslas II, introduced the most famous Czech coin, the Prague grosz, which became the basis of Czech power in the 14th century, Czech glory and pride, in 1300 based on the fabulous wealth of silver around Kutná Hora and the currency of all of Central Europe. Its artistic form, modeled after the penny of the French city of Tours, was the work of Vlach artists, iron cutters. Since the Czech penny was intended as an "eternal" coin, i.e. immutable, its artistic form, which was already Gothic, could not develop to the same extent as on Romanesque coins, where the idea was to change the image of the coin as often as possible. That is why only two images, the Czech crown and the Czech lion, are repeated with dignified and downright self-confident calmness on the Prague groschen.
The obverse of the Prague groschen, following the manner of its Tour predecessor, wraps around the image of the Czech royal crown with three large and two low lilies, decorated with pearls and stones, a double opis stripe, separated by a double inner mother-of-pearl.
Descriptions: a) 4- WENCEZLAVS .SECVNDVS
b) 4- DEIg GRATIA gREXg BOHEMIA
The outer circle is beaded.
silver. 27mm 3.75g NATIONAL MUSEUM COLLECTION.
Heraldic Czech lion right in a beaded inner circle. Although the image of the Bohemian lion has been used many times on coins in Bohemia and Silesia since the 13th century, it has never become better known than on neat groschens, which alternated with the sovereign's name on the obverse and otherwise varied only slightly - except for the last groschen from 1547 — the shape of a crown on the obverse, the shape of a lion on the reverse and the shape of the font.
The image of the lion is laid out with rare nobility in the circle of the coin field. The heraldic figure, one of the most beautiful known to Czech art, is full of lively movement, which permeates the strict stylization of the animal in the drawing of the body, head, legs, mane and two-stranded tail.
Descriptions: * + * GROSSI g PRANGESES
The outer circle is made of pearls.
