Dwudenar: coin from Grand Duchy of Lithuania; 2 denar

DWUDENAR: COIN OF LITHUANIA

Dwudenar /2 denar/, 1570: Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Dwudenar /2 denar/, 1570: Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Ruler: Sigismund II Augustus (Jagiellonian dynasty) — king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania; the first ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

II: the denomination of the coin (in essence — 2 denar) is indicated in the form of the Roman numeral "2".

Coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania — VYTIS (Pogoń, Pogonia, Погоня...). Translated into English, the name of this heraldic symbol sounds like "Chase", "Pursuer", "Knight or Horseman".

Monogram of Sigismund II Augustus (stylized writing of the letters "SA", top — crown).

Mint: Wilno or Vilna (nowadays: Vilnius — the capital of the Lithuania).

It should be noted that the coin presented in the photo was issued during the years 1550-1570 (that is, we are talking about the period in the history of Lithuania both before the formal entry into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569 and immediately after). Also, in numismatics, in addition to this Lithuanian coin, another silver coin of the 17th century of the most similar type is known already exclusively of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: with a rider (Vytis), denomination in the "II" format and with a visually similar monogram of the ruler (however, a different one — Sigismund III Vasa).

  • Silver: 14 mm - 0.55 g
  • Reference price: 6$

COIN DWUDENAR — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
  1. GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA (1550-1570): dwudenar = 2 denar
  2. POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH (1600-1626): dwudenar = 2 denar

As for the name of the coin dwudenar — everything is obvious: the coin is equal to two denars (the prefix "dwu-" indicates duality, equality of two). We can only add that sometimes the names "2 denar", "double denar" are used.