Armorial of the Polish Nobility – Kościesza

The second numismat from the “Armorial of the Polish Nobility” series with an image of the coat of arms of the Medieval noble family of Kościesza.

The coat of arms is a special one for the Polish numismatics, its image being well known to coin enthusiasts. This is because, beginning with 1925, the coat of arms functioned as the symbol of the National Mint and its image appeared on all coins issued in Poland.

Obverse:
In the center three noblemen. Below the grade of silver: Ag 925 and the symbol of the Mint: m/w. Along the rim an inscription: NOBILITAS REGNI POLONIAE TOTIVSQVE REPUBLICAE.

Reverse:
In the center the Kościesza coat of arms. Along the rim an inscription: AMRA NOBILIUM DOMINORUM KOŚCIESZA

Packaging: an elegant box with embossment
Graphic design: Waldemar Malinowski
Plaster models: Dobrochna Surajewska

The coat of arms is a special one for the Polish numismatics, its image being well known to coin enthusiasts. This is because, beginning with 1925, the coat of arms functioned as the symbol of the National Mint and its image appeared on all coins issued in Poland.

The director of the Mint at the time, Jan Aleksandrowicz, meant this as a reference to the Old Polish minting tradition. As the Podskarbi, king’s ministers of treasury, placed the miniature images of their own coats of arms (and sometimes only the badges) on coins, along with the emblem of the Poland, the Crown, Lithuania or the King, Aleksandrowicz – a civil servant in a democratic state – marked all the coins struck by the Mint with a small emblem of the Medieval coat of arms of the noble family of Kościesza.

It is worth noting that in the 19th century there was a Lithuanian noble family of the Aleksandrowicz who used a coat of arms considered to be one of the variants of the Kościesza coat of arms. Therefore, it seems that the choice of the symbol was closely related to the family background of the director of the Mint.