One-sided Denarius of Bolesław Chrobry of the Princes Poloniae Type

The denarius of Bolesław Chrobry of the Princes Poloniae type. On the obverse it features a representation of a bird, which is interpreted as a peacock with its tail spread, while on the reverse there is a jugate voided long cross with a dot in each angle of the cross. The legend on the rim on both sides of the denarius is the same: PRINCES POLONIAE, which is a borrowing from coins from the Duchy of Benevento (PRINCES BENEBENTI). The specimen in the collection of the Numismatic Department of the National Ossoliński Institute is struck on one side. Only the obverse is present, with a peacock in the field, which is surrounded by the inscription PRINCES POLONIAE. Simultaneously, it is the oldest record of the name of Poland on a historical source preserved in the original, since other, earlier names of Poland, such as Polania, Polonia or Polani, are known only from later copies. Bolesław Chrobry’s denarius of the Princes Poloniae type is one of the oldest Polish coins, its issue started after 1005. It is also one of the most important and best known Polish coins, as evidenced by its placement on the 20 zloty banknote, next to the St. Nicholas rotunda in Cieszyn.