Rare Majnert forgery, a silver half thaler of Sigismund II Augustus dated 1546.
In his study Fałszywe monety polskie (False Polish Coins), Henryk Mańkowski wrote the following about this issue: "Crown half thaler 1546. Only the obverse die, engraved by hand, is preserved in the Czapski Collection. It is an invention of Majnert, of the same kind as the 1547 thaler. As is well known, no Crown coinage was struck during the reign of Sigismund Augustus. Bandtkie No. 125 and Zagórski No. 83 list this half thaler, but question its authenticity."
Obverse: crowned bust of Sigismund II Augustus, right
SIGISMVNDVS AVG REX POL M D L
Reverse: five coats of arms under the crown
DEVS IN VIRTVTE TVA LETABITVR REX
Diameter 34 mm, weight 16.25 g
