(sold for $29.0)

Mint Year: 1602 Mint Place: Krakow (Krakau) Reference:  Iger K.02.b (R1!). Denomination: 3 Grosz (Trojak) Condition: Damaged by numerous deep scratches, otherwise a nice VF! Diameter: 19mm Weight: 2.35gm Material: Silver

Obverse: Crowned and armored bust of Sigismund III Vasa in ruff left. Legend: SIGIS M  III . D . G . (shield)  REX . PO MDL

Reverse: Legend in three lines, below  crowned shield, flanked by Polish eagle and rider. Legend: . III . / * (eagle/crowned shield/rider) * / GROS . ARG : /  TRIP . REG  /  POLONI . / . 16 K 02 (retrograde!)

Krakówalso Krakow, or Cracow, is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River (Polish: Wisla)   in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century.   Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish     academic, cultural, and artistic life and is one of Poland's most     important economic centres. It was the capital of Poland from 1038 to     1596; the capital of the Grand Duchy of Kraków from 1846 to 1918; and   the capital of Kraków Voivodeship from the 14th century to 1999. It is   now the capital of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. The city has grown   from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second most important city. It   began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was already being reported as a busy   trading centre of Slavonic Europe in 965. With the establishment of new   universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish   Republic and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a   major national academic and artistic centre.

Sigismund III Vasa (Polish: Zygmunt III Waza)   (20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was Grand Duke of Lithuania and   King of Polish Crown, a monarch of joined Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth   from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden (where he was known simply as Sigismund)   from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599. He was the son of King John III   of Sweden and his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica of Poland. He was   the last ruler of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth bearing a dynastical   blood of House of Gediminas and a branch of it Jagiellons, although from   female line.

Elected to the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian   Commonwealth, Sigismund sought to create a personal union between the   Commonwealth and Sweden (Polish-Swedish union), and succeeded for a time   in 1592. After he had been deposed in 1595 from the Swedish throne by   his uncle, Charles IX of Sweden and a meeting of the Riksens ständer (Swedish Riksdag), he spent much of the rest of his life attempting to reclaim it.

Sigismund remains a highly controversial figure in   Poland. His long reign coincidenced with the apex of the   Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's prestige, power and economic influence.   On the other hand, it was also during his reign that the symptoms of   decline that led to the Commonwealth's future demise surfaced. Common   views, influenced by popular books of Pawel Jasienica, tend to present   Sigismund as the main factor responsible for initiating these negative   processes, while academic historians usually are not that condemning.   However, the question whether the Commonwealth's decline was caused by   Sigismund's own decisions or its roots were in historical processes   beyond his personal control, remains a highly debated topic.

He was commemorated in Warsaw with Zygmunt's Column, commissioned by his son and successor, Wladyslaw IV.

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