Bibliography about polish medieval and modern coinage

Hi guys, I hope you are well. I’m newbie in the medieval and modern coinage specially from Poland, Hungary, etc and today I realized that I can’t differentiate a Polish coin from a Transilvanian one as both were ruled by the same ruler. So I need some bibliography tips or even internet pages in English (I have an old catalogue in polish). Thank you all and have a great day.

Yes, there were times when Poland and Hungary were connected in the 14th and 15th centuries by a common ruler, and it is not so easy to separate the coins...

1370-1382 Louis of Anjou (Nagy Lajos, or Ludwik Wegierski /Ludwik Andegawenski) was simultaneously King ofHungary and King of Poland, and
1440-1444 Ladislaus (Wladyslaw Warnenczyk) was simultaneously King of Hungary and King of Poland.

It does pose a challenge for collectors. In my case, I am a Polish collector, so I have also faced this, and tried to learn the differences.

In my opinion, if you want a truly "Polish" coin of Louis, you look for one that was minted in Polish mints like Krakow, Poznan or Lwow.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces124192.html
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces254107.html
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces179611.html

His coins minted in other mints can be considered Hungarian

Likewise, if you want a "Polish" coin of Wladyslaw, your only choice is this denar:
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces124194.html

I think Numista does a pretty good job making this distinction, (even if auction houses are often more ambiguous), and has very complete listings for Poland (I am not familiar with Hungary, but I think also Numista is pretty strong here?)

The most comprehensive catalogs for Poland for the medieval era are Kopicki (in Polish) and Gumowski (in German). I don't know the Hungarian catalogs, but there are others here who cam comment.

If you have more specific questions about specific coins, please post them here and we can give advice.

Thank you tdziemia! I will try get the Gumowski on the web, maybe there are some pdf. Would you recommend me a polish seller? I’m interested specially in 14,15,16 centuries in Poland. Thank you.

There are lots of Polish coins everywhere in the market.

You can look on eBay for late 15th and 16th c. coins, though generally in lower grades (but also lower prices)
There is always a large selection on MA-shops.

FInally the best selection is in the Polish and Baltic auction houses. For 14th c, this will be your best option because they are harder to find. especially before the reign of Ludwik.
1. WCN runs weekly auctions every Thursday. Commission is only 10%, and they allow you to accumulate your auction wins over several weeks, to economize on shipping cost, which is already very low (6 euro to U.S.) https://wcn.pl
2. Other Polish auction houses with a broad selection of coins from all eras and all price ranges, typically holding 4 auctions/year are:
Antykwariat Numizmatyczny Michal Niemczyk https://niemczyk.pl
Gabinte Numizmatyczny Damian Marciniak https://gndm.pl
Salon Numizmatyczny Mateusz Wojcicki

Other auction in houses in Germany and Baltics also carry Polish coins, especially Numisbalt, https://numisbalt.com/en/

Be aware that of you want to bid in an auction, you need to start the process (register and approval) a few days before.

Good luck and have fun! Poland-Lithuania is the largest theme in my collection, and I have really enjoyed building this theme over the last 5 years.

Great! Thanks so much! Wondering if they ship to Finland. I will try to catch up all the information. One last question, is it possible diferentiate the polish coins from lituanian ones? They made a commonwealth but sure there are many hints hiden in the mintage for recognize them. Can an intermediate so it? Thank you again and have a great day.

I am pretty sure all those auction houses ship to Finland if they ship to the U.S.

For the 14th - 16th centuries, I think the answer is something like this:
- coins minted in Vilnius, and having Vytis, the knight on horseback, are considered Lithuanian (for example the halfgroats starting from the reign of Alexander as Grand Duke of Lithuania in the late 15th c, and larger denominations from 1535).
- coins minted in Krakow, Wschowa (Fraustadt), Poznan (Posen), Olkusz are considered Polish. This includes all the common coins before the reign of Alexander.
- coins minted in the city mints of Gdansk, Elbing, Malbork and Torun (previously Prussia) are considered to be Polish, though technically these areas were in "Royal Prussia" (under Polish rule) until the late 1500s. The reverse of these coins often has a reference to Prussia in legends, or in the use of the Prussian eagle.

Probably other collectors here can build on this.

Thank you so much! Looking for the catalogues!