The silver 3 Polker This silver 3 Polker coin of Poland issued by King Sigismund III Vasa is dated 1616. Sigismund became king of Poland and Lithuania in 1587. He was also king of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599. His efforts to unite Poland and Sweden caused sixty years of war between the two. He invaded Russia in 1605, taking advantage of their Time of Troubles. Despite occupying Moscow and proclaiming himself to be Czar, he was unable to control the country. His war in Russia continued until a peace treaty was finally signed in 1618. One side of the coin has the crowned arms of united Poland and Lithuania. The other side features the number 24 within an orb, indicating the coin's value at 1/24th of a Thaler. On either side of the cross and orb are the last two digits of the date (16). Sigismund did not feel it necessary to include the first two digits (16) (Coin Archives photo): http://www.coinarchives.com/w/lotviewer.php?LotID=961000&AucID=710&Lot=10578&Val=f25c0b1fa358b8d781982000f7adced3 Here's an image of another 3 Polker dared 1622 - 1624 courtesy of Joels Coins (joelscoins.com): http://www.joelscoins.com/images/poland41r.jpg Hope you enjoyed seeing these historic fractional Thalers (3 Polter)... Clinker
