1598, Lithuania, Sigismund III Vasa. Silver 3 Groszy (Trojak). R1!

Mint Year: 1598
Condition: A nice VF+
Reference: Iger V.98.1a. R1!
Mint Place: Wilna (Lithuania)
Denomination: 3 Groszy (Trojak)
Mint Master: Szymon Lidman (privy mark: head of Ox)
Diameter: 20mm
Material: Silver
Weight: 2.41gm

Obverse: Armored and rowned bust of Sigismund III Vasa right.
Legend: SIG . III . D . G . - . REX . PO . M . D . L .

Reverse: Legend in three lines, below crowned shield of shield, flanked by polish eagle and rider.
Legend: . III . / (eagle) (arms of the Duchy of Lithuania) (rider) / GROS . ARG / TRIP . M . D . L . / . 15 (privy mark of Mint Master/Wilna) 94 .

At your attention a nice and rare 3 groszy silver coin, issued by Sigismund III Vasa during 1598 and struck at the Wilna mint in Lithuania.

Vilnius (Wilna) is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city. The city underwent a period of expansion. The Vilnius city walls were built for protection between 1503 and 1522, comprising nine city gates and three towers, and Sigismund August moved his court there in 1544. Its growth was due in part to the establishment of Alma Academia et Universitas Vilnensis Societatis Iesu by King Stefan Bathory in 1579. The university soon developed into one of the most important scientific and cultural centres of the region and the most notable scientific centre of the Commonwealth. During its rapid development, the city was open to migrants from the territories of the Grand Duchy and further. A variety of languages were spoken: Lithuanian, Polish, Ruthenian, Russian, Old Slavonic, Latin, German, Yiddish, Hebrew and Turkic; the city was compared to Babylon. Each group made its unique contribution to the life of the city, and crafts, trade, and science prospered.

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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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