One of the most valuable half-groschen coins of Sigismund II Augustus.
This is a very rare variety found only on a few half-groszy from this single year, among all the issues from the period when Gabriel Tarła was active.
It is distinguished by his coat of arms—the “Axe”—placed above the head of Pogoń, rather than in the typical position at the bottom of the reverse.
The rarity of this variety is well illustrated by the proportions given in Tyszkiewicz’s price list, in which he valued the half-groszy coins from 1562 as follows:
- without the “Topór” coat of arms at 0.40 mk,
- with the “Topór” coat of arms at the bottom: 3.00 mk,
- with the coat of arms at the top at 25.00 mk!
We also find this reflected in our archive, where out of several dozen 1562 groszy, only 13 featured the “Topór” coat of arms, and only 1 had it at the top (last listed in 2021, sold for 4,484 PLN).
