Extremely rare Silesian bracteate, minted by Boleslaw I the Tall in the Breslau mint.
Variety with the legend VRATIZ written in a semicircle.
This type has not been seen on the auction market in Poland before the coins that were previously available had the inscription VRATIZ placed horizontally.
Attractive coin that exhibits plenty of mint luster.
Coin for the best collections of Silesian and medieval coins.
The chance to purchase such a rare bracteate may not occur again for many years to come.
Silesia, Boleslaw I the Tall as prince of Silesia (1163-1201), Bracteate, Breslau mint
Obverse: armed half-figure of a prince holding a sword and pennant, standing on the wall between the towers, below an inscription in an arc
DV X VRATIZ
Diameter 18 mm, weight 0.15 g
As Jan Długosz wrote in his chronicle: " Everywhere he showed up or stayed, everyone pointed to him with great admiration as a giant winner, and his heroic courage was praised by all lips...". In 1146, Władysław the Exile was forced to leave the country, his son Bolesław the Tall had to leave his homeland with him, and they received shelter from the German Emperor Conrad III, who was the brother of Bolesław the Tall's mother. Bolesław spent seventeen years in exile. In 1163, at the congress in Nuremberg, Bolesław the Tall recognized the authority of Bolesław IV the Curly, and in return received his patrimony, i.e. Silesia. As a Silesian prince, he had great aspirations to take over the senior district, as a result of which he was involved in a rebellion against Mieszko the Old in 1177. The consequence of the rebellion was the loss of his own district, he regained it by giving Mieszko Tanglefoot the castellan of Bytom and Oświęcim, and also lost Głogów. He stopped fighting for the senior district and, at the end of his life, incorporated Opole into his district.
