I found this with some of my Dad's stuff after he died a few years ago... anybody have any info on this coin? I believe it's silver.
This is a silver 3 groschen from Poland with the effigy and titles of king Sigismund (Zygmunt) III. Date is 162?
Poland 3 groschen of Sigismund III LIVED 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 , Reign : 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. Upto Ebay It is a silver coin.
Maybe early 20's 22 or 23? The problem with these coins is that there are a million varieties.... My first impression was also casting, these coins were rather rough and then under the right conditions you could get this look in the ground. If a casting...begs the question why since a coin like this would not be worth much at all in that condition....unless it is an extremely rare variety. You can get a far nicer example of the type for relatively cheap. Stranger things have happened though. Although not exact, the ones above are very similar to yours and probably by the same hand probably worth about 100 bucks for the two.
I looked closely at the surface of this coin with a 10X loupe... and it does look similar to a cast surface. However, it is silver; also very thin, maybe 2/3's the thickness of a dime with a very smooth edge. I'll stop by the local coin shop today and see if Ken can determine authenticity. Thanks again for all the help!
Yes...when I first saw it the first thing that came to my head was... 'when people see that they think it will be fake, but it's more than likely corrosion'
1624 for sure. mint cracow. by the way in 1624 masonry worker average day pay was 4 pieces of those = 12 gross. large round loaf of bread (i believe 2 kilos weight )cost 3.5 to 4.5 gross.
Incorrect price quote. dates 1621-1624 are the MOSt common 3 gross coin of all mint dates for whole Commonwealth of Poland. in VF worth about $25, XF $35, there are UNC on a market but they scarce and go for a $100 and more (specially slabbed ones)
this is what was my impression at first point, however cast pieces were much lighter from a period of use made, and i think worth much more money then original ones now. not seen present time counterfeits as due to low valeu of coin "artists" do nto want to waiste time on them. You can check if is ok if does not make deep sound when drop on glass means countefeits. old ones were just purly plated with silver over copper so if you see spots of copper you know it is fake.... picture is bad. however i seen many in that condition in lots dog out from eastern territories of Rzeczyspospolita (Specially today's Bialosrus teritory) so i say original piece worth $12 top.
No, it is not incorrect as it is the realized price in the auction for those 2 coins. It was not a price quote as much as passing on price realized at an auction for similar coins. Those two sold for roughly 100 USD...which would be roughly 50 USD a peice...they are in better condition thus I assume in the condition the original coin in this post is in, it would be worth maybe 30 bucks give or take. I am not an expert by any means so if a person more in the know says they are worth less or more, I would certainly not dispute that...but as for similar coins and price realized, I realied on www.coinarchives.com for a sample of prices realized for similar specimens.
SOrry I used wrong word. I meant it is very seldom for these "trojaks" (correct name of these coin in polish to rich numbers higher ten $35. for conditions you presented. I quote a average conditions they get on daily bases. here are exaples of few for $30 each: and here is one sold for $95 graded by NGC as AU55