Very rare, original issue in SILVER minted as a gift to the city of Krakow by King Stanisław August Poniatowski.
Edward Raczyński in his "Gabinet of Polish Medals" writes about this position as follows : "As long as Kraków was the capital of Poland, it shone in all the splendor of its glory. When our kings began to reside in Warsaw, it maintained its former prosperity for a long time; and the funerals of rulers, the coronations of their successors, the existence within its walls of an academy, a bishop, and a chapter, as well as trade, somewhat enlivened its income. However, the further it went, the more it tended towards decline.
If one knew how much Krakow paid in various eras, what donations it made to its kings on important occasions, it would undoubtedly be a measure of the growth or decline of its wealth. The only information I could gather was that Krakow Jews, during the reign of John III, paid 20,000 thalers to the Commonwealth, 300 annually to the king, 200 to the queen, and 100 red złoty to the senior prince.
When Stanisław August (who was not crowned in this former capital) returned from Kaniów in 1787, he went to Kraków. He found the city in such a sad state that he allocated 300 złoty annually from his own income from the Kraków government to its recovery. (b) This is the subject of this medal."
Medal by Holzhaeusser, court medalist of Stanisław August Poniatowski.
Mint luster on both sides.
Obverse: head of the king with a headband in his hair, facing right, under the neck the minter's initials IPH
STANISLAUS AUGUSTUS DG REX POLONIAE MD LITUA (Stanisław August, by the grace of God, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania)
Reverse: inscription in nine lines, two crossed oak branches at the bottom
SUBLEVANDAE URBI CRACOVIAE PRISCAE METROPOLI POLONIAE E PROPRIIS REDITIBUS CONCESSIT SAR ANNUUM CENSUM A MDCCLXXXVII (for the construction of the city of Kraków, the former capital of Poland, King Stanisław August granted an annual grant from his own income in 1787)
Silver, diameter 40 mm, weight 29.18 g
