Copper coins – the consequence of the wars with Sweden and Moscow
During the reign of Jan Kazimierz Vasa (1648–1668) copper coins were minted for the first time in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The middle of the 17th century was a hard period: the country was exhausted by the wars with Sweden and Moscow, a wave of famine and plaque swept over the country. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania lost about 48 per cent of its population. The country constantly needed money to settle accounts with the mercenary army, and the Treasury of the state was almost empty. The state was 4 million gold roubles in debt to the army. The decision to start minting copper coins – shillings was taken in 1659 as one of the ways of solving this problem. These coins were given the forced exchange rate: 3 shillings were equated to one silver grosz. Copper coins had to be minted for one million złoty, both Polish and Lithuanian (a total of 180 million units). Minting of these coins had to resolve another problem too – to reduce the huge amount of shillings of other countries that were in the cash circulation of the country. This was directed against the shillings minted in Lithuania that was ruled by the Swedes.
The disdainful nickname of “boratinkai”
Today John Casimir’s shillings are called by the name of “boratinkai.” This name originated from the name of Italian Titus Livius Boratini (1617–1682), the lessee of the mints of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The coins were started to be minted according to his project. It is thought that this disdainful term originated in the 19th century due to an especially huge amount of these coins. At first this name became common among the collectors, later the word “boratynek” appeared in literature on numismatics (for the first time in 1845). In 1891, the term acquired the form of feminine gender “boratinka”, which is common today. From Poland the term came to Lithuania where copper shillings were called “boratine” and “berlinka.”
The coin that saved the Treasury
Military actions were taking place and a large part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was occupied by the Moscow army. Therefore, from July 1660 to April 1661 the coins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were minted in the castle of Ujazdow, not far from Warsaw. Up to a hundred people worked in the mint. Raw material was bought in Hamburg, Lubeck and Silesia, and half-finished products were manufactured in Oliwa. Titus Livius Boratini was responsible for the activities of the mint. About 90 million coins were manufactured in the mint as had been planned. The coins minted in Ujazdow bore the coat-of-arms of the Chief Treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Vincent Gosiewski (1652–1662) – the night-heron.
Minting of copper coins justified itself.
The Treasury received necessary income but still there was a shortage of it. Therefore in 1663, it was decided to renew minting of shillings. Polish shillings were again minted in the mint of Ujazdow, as well as in Krakow. Minting of Lithuanian copper shillings was transferred to a new mint in Oliwa near Gdansk. However, it was not Titus Livius Boratini but George Andrew Von Horn who was chosen to be the manager of the mint. The mint operated from 19 July 1663 to 10 November. More than 41 million coins were minted there. George Andrew Von Horn was allowed to mint silver and gold coins, but he did not do that. The coat-of-arms of Jerzy Białłozor, the Land Treasurer of the GDL and Bishop of Vilnius, – the head of an ox – was represented on the shillings minted in Oliwa.
Do You Know?
Jan Kazimierz Vasa’s copper coins minted during the years of wars and epidemics are called by the name “boratinkai”. This name originated from the name of Italian Titus Livius Boratini (1617–1682), the lessee of the mints of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The coins were started to be minted according to his project. It is thought that this disdainful term originated in the 19th century due to an especially large amount of these coins.
The largest amount of shillings was minted in Vilnius
In 1664, copper cons were started to be minted in Lithuania too – in Vilnius Mint.
From 4 June 1664 to 30 December 1666 more than 400 million pieces were manufactured. The mint operated in the territory of the Lower Castle, in workshop II (the building was to the north of the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and to the east from the New Arsenal). The coins minted in Vilnius bore the monogram of the Land Treasurer of the GDL Jaronim Krischpin-Kirschenstein (1663–1676).
In 1665, a mint of copper shillings was opened in the Market Square (currently the Townhall Square) in Kaunas where from 17 October 1665 to 15 January 1667 more than 40 million coins were minted. The coins minted in Kaunas bore one of the elements of the coat-of-arms of the Land Treasurer of the GDL Jaronim Krischpin-Kirschenstein (1663–1676) – the head of a deer.
On 4 December 1665 a mint of copper shillings was also opened in Lithuanian Brasta where more than 240 million coins were minted per year (the mint operated until 16 December 1666). From 5 March 1666 to 8 October, the mint of Marienburg established in the basement of the western wing of the Upper Castle also minted shillings.
All in all, from 1660 to 1666, six mints, which manufactured coins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, minted more than 887 million shillings. The number of Polish shillings minted is somewhat smaller – about 700 million. All that constituted the amount of over 26 million złoty. Such a huge amount of copper coins enabled the state to settle accounts with the army and to oust coins of small denomination of the foreign countries from circulation. The quantity of copper shillings minted was so large that they remained in circulation for 100 years. Today the copper shilling is a coin most often discovered in the ground.
Eduardas Remecas
