Watch List notes:

POLAND. AR Bracteate, ND (ca. 1136). Krakow Mint. Boleslaw III. CHOICE EXTREMELY FINE.
Kop-47; Gum-81. Diameter: 28mm; Weight: 0.52 gms. "Penitential" type. A highly attractive and engaging example of this RARE type, the present piece--in addition to its lengthy pedigree--offers great detail remaining with an attractive gunmetal gray tone and only a few minor creases that do not affect its integrity. The design features the bishop holding a crozier and blessing a figure kneeling before him.

After Boleslaw chased Zbigniew from Poland in 1107, Zbigniew sought an ally in Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. He joined him in a campaign against Poland, which ended with Boleslaw's victory on the Field of Dogs before the city of Wroclaw in 1109. Zbigniew was later lured back to Poland and his doom. It was long thought that this coin depicts St. Adalbert absolving the king for having had his half-brother Zbigniew Piast blinded in 1112. Recent scholarship, however, argues that Boleslaw was greatly impressed with a newly minted Bracteate of Magdeburg he saw while on a trip to the German lands in 1135 and had it copied.

Ex: Stack's (1/2010) Lot # 981.

Ex: Alicia and Sid Belzberg Collection (4/2008) Lot # 1002.

Ex: Henry V. Karolkiewicz Collection (Triton IV - 12/2000) Lot # 2024.

Ex: Lepczyk 58 (7/1984) Lot # 1059.

Ex: Stanislaw Herstal Collection (American Auction Association [Q. David Bowers] - 2/1974) Lot # 1634.

Estimate: $2000.00- $4000.00