Paul Gabriel Dumitrache

John of Hunyadi is known in historiography as one of the late Middle Ages' outstanding personalities in the mid-15th century's struggle against Ottoman expansion in the Balkans. However, numismatic studies argue that its economic and monetary policies are much less known. Through this study, the comprehensive analysis of an unpublished batch of coins consisting of 27 denars and obols from the Regency period (1446-1452) allows us to underline some innovative hypotheses related to the silver coinage of John of Hunyadi as governor. Hunyadi's counts of the Transylvanian Monetary and Mining Chamber, Christophorus and Antonius, have succeeded in implementing Transylvanian mints, a controlling silver coinage system, based on the obverse legend versions as well as the mint marks. A brief classification of these associations specific to certain mints and mint masters, related to the chronology of the issues and the version of the legend, looks as follows:
1. The version: “TЄMPORЄ – IOɧAȠIS” is specific exclusively and entirely to the Sibiu (Hermannstadt) silver coinage from 1446.
2. The version: “TЄMPORЄ – IO◦GVBЄR” is specific exclusively and entirely to the Buda and Baia Mare (Neustadt (Frauenbach) / Nagybánya) silver coinage from 1446.
3. Notably, for the Baia Mare denars (1446), some particularities are in detail described in the full text. 
4. The version: “IOɧAȠI◦DЄ◦ɧV◦GVBЄRȠAT” is specific exclusively for lion denars struck in 1447-1448, in Brașov (Kronstadt), for Wallachia. This coinage is signed by Christophorus, as well as the denars also struck in Brașov for the internal market of Transylvania (1447-1451), whose legend respecting the single formal version of that time: “TЄMPORЄ◦IO◦GVBЄRȠATO”.
5. The version: “TЄMPORЄ◦GVBЄRȠATORI” is specific to some late issues associated with the chronological level: 1451-1452, being characteristic for both Baia Mare and Buda coinages. In the case of Buda, they are associated with the specific iconography of the uncrowned lion, while the others, from Baia Mare, have preserved the iconographic identity of the crowned lion.
Two of these legend versions: “IOɧAȠI◦DЄ◦ɧV◦GVBЄRȠAT” (in relation with the mint from Brașov) and “TЄMPORЄ ◦ GVBЄRȠATORI” (in relation with the mint from Baia Mare) are novel and were identified based on the genuine coins, part of the unpublished coin lot. Both have an essential significance in the study of the monetary history of Transylvania and Wallachia. While the first one represents the numismatic evidence of the first attempt to unify the two monetary markets, the second one proved the Baia Mare mint’s continuous activity in 1451-1452. Moreover, the legend “TЄMPORЄ – IOɧAȠIS” is for the first time associated exclusively and entirely to the Sibiu coinage from 1446. Among the coins of the lot, two unique lion denars were identified, whose mint marks were previously unknown. Both come from the Sibiu mint, dated 1447-1451, based on crowned lion iconography. At one of them, instead of the mark reserved for the monetary master, there is also the initial of the city but seen in an inverted image. This graphic representation indicated a collective mark belonging to the saxon patricians, city council members at that time. For the second one, the Hermannstadt initial is sided by the famously crossed seal of Christophorus. This discovery confirms that in the period 1447-1451, the Florentine was directly involved, simultaneously, in the activity of mints throughout Transsylvania. His cross mark was also used in Sibiu, as well as in Brasov and Baia Mare.
Summarizing the conclusions of the transition stage of 1446, the two Florentines resumed in the name of Hunyadi the reorganization of coinage throughout Transylvania, a process started by Christophorus in Sibiu in 1443. The main outputs that characterize this period are the following: Restauration of the bimetallic, gold and silver, monetary system; Centralization of coinage mostly in Transylvania through a strategic spatial reorganization in those three urban centres: Sibiu, Baia Mare and Brasov; Implementation of effective quality control of coinage along with eradicating counterfeiting. All this contributed to shaping the needed circumstances for a successful implementation of the monetary reform of 1447.     
In Hunyadi's vision, the "lion denar" reform should have consisted of introducing a new silver coin that would circulate throughout the kingdom and respect a unique standard of metrological, iconographic, and finesse. The reform was successful, beginning in 1447, but only in Transylvania and in the royal chamber of Buda. It also had some effect on the Kremnitz monetary chamber, but the civil war had a significant contribution in jeopardizing the success of the reform in Upper Hungary. No documentary sources are known regarding the metrological and fineness standard, but as it results from archaeometry measurements, it should have been similar to that of the "eagle denar" from the reform attempts of 1442 and 1444. As we have shown in two recently published studies, in 1444, this reform was expected to be successful in Transylvania but failed due to political instability caused by King Vladislav I's death in Varna in December 1444. The system of legends variation in coinage was used for the first time in the monetary chamber of Sibiu, at the late eagle denars (1445), in order to reflect a specific political context. Complementary to the reform attends started in 1444 and consolidated in 1446, with the introduction of the lion denar, there is a rebalancing of silver coin production capacities between the three Transylvanian centres, with an emphasis on increasing the role of Brasov mint. This one had a central role, also, in practicing Hunyadi's monetary policies regarding Wallachia. The study shows that controlling and providing it with its current currency necessary for trading became his constant preoccupation between 1447 and 1452. However, the Wallachian monetary market, which the governor wanted to be subsequent with the Hungarian monetary system, was already under intense pressure from the Ottoman currency.
Finally, in addition to the conclusions regarding the monetary strategy that increased and strengthened the Man-at-arms political power, the study also reclassified the typology of Hunyadi's silver coinage during the Regency: 1446-1452 (Annex 3).

By combining the heraldic elements of both kingdoms of Poland and Hungary, ruled by the same king, Vladislav III (1434-1444), respectively Vladislav I (1440-1444), the eagle denar remains, through its iconography, the reference milestone of the Jagiello's influence in the history of coinage in Hungary, particularly for the heraldic type of denars. Within the Transylvanian landscape, two of the royal monetary chambers played a role in the silver coinage reform attempts from 1442 to 1444. The chamber of Baia Mare, relevant for its coinage volume, was the only one involved in the eagle denar’s reform attempt of 1442. However, in 1444, the second one, the monetary chamber of Transylvania, located in Sibiu (Hermannstadt), had a central role in implementing the silver coinage reform. The 1442 reform attempt failed before the end of the year due to political reasons. Thus, both royal and private mints began to issue poor quality silver coins. In the spring of 1444, Vladislav I cancelled all private monetary privileges and resumed the attempt to reform the silver coinage. At the request of the Diet from 18.04.1444, the production of the eagle denar was restarted within all the royal chambers and any further changes of the new coins’ silver purity was forbidden. One of the reform’s main supporters was the very voivode of Transylvania, John of Hunyadi. To assure the reform’s success, the Transylvanian voivode entrusted magister Jacobus (Jakab) as Count of Transylvanian Chambers from Sibiu and gave him the coinage monopoly in Transylvania (Siebenbürgen): „cameram et cusionem monetae regalis in civitate Cibiniensis”.
Given the extremely limited number of numismatic and documentary sources, the activity of the mints located in Transylvania is mostly unknown and, apart from a general assessment made by Lajos Huszár, which indicates an approximate standard of the silver finesse of 281 ‰, there is no trustworthy data about the metrological standard and the silver purity of the eagle denars. Within the scientific circuit, new information on the subject is provided by the current study of a batch of coins, consisting of ten denars and one obol, of eagle type, and also of unique samples, originating from a private collection. As described in the catalogue, the 12 coins were analyzed from both a numismatic and compositional perspective, using XRF archaeometric techniques. The coins’ provenance is from mints located either within the Transylvanian area, within the Buda royal chamber or from within unknown workshops, where they were counterfeited. Among the analysed coins should be underlined two unique samples stand out. The first one is a denar that comes from a series issued by the city council of Sibiu, most likely prior to the concession of the city mint by Nikolaus Pfeffersack, a sample whose fineness is 717 ‰. The second one is an obol coming from the Buda Chamber carrying a unique mint mark.
The conclusions of the study indicate that the average standard for the purity of the coins from the Royal Chambers is about 500 ‰. This proves to be higher than the standard known previously as being a reference for the silver coinage of Vladislav I, respectively 281 ‰. In Central Europe, a similar standard of fineness is encountered in the denars of Vladislav III of Poland (1434-1444). However, the production of these coins in Krakow ceased in 1440, with the coronation of the young king as Vladislav I of Hungary (1440-1444). It should be noted, however, that between the Hungarian eagle denars and the Polish royal denars, issued in the Polish monetary system of Krakowian gros, even though iconographic and compositional similarities are noted, and both have the same nominals, they have different metrological standards. Nonetheless, the Hungarian eagle type obol has the same metrological characteristic with the royal Polish denar (approximately 0.5 grams).
Five of the eleven studied coins were classified as counterfeits, corresponding to the type identified as such by Artur Pohl, referring to counterfeits from 1444-1445, according to a prototype of the Buda mint. The presence of trace elements that indicate the mines of Maramures County could associate these coins with the name of the owner of the mines, respectively Serbian despot George Branković. Given that Branković owned the mines during that time, there is a possibility that the counterfeiting activity was actually controlled by him in the Balkan area from the south of Danube.
The studied coins represent a numismatic source that proves that at least the second stage of Vladislav I's monetary reform represented, for John of Hunyadi, a good opportunity to reorganize the monetary activity within the Transylvanian area. The good quality of the engraving, superior to the inflationary issues from 1442-1443, the silver purity and the metrological and iconographic uniformity of the coins, coming from different mint masters, indicate a rigorous control of the monetary activity and confirms the hypothesis made by Artur Pohl, regarding this attempt of reform, proved to be successful in Transylvania, for that time. Taking on the role of leader of the struggle against Ottoman expansion in Europe, John of Hunyadi thus extends his plans of anti-Ottoman resistance in the economic and monetary field. Only a powerful monetary system, with a large circulation in the European lands might be able to counter the penetration and consolidation of the Ottoman silver currency in Transylvania, as it lastly happened. Till the end of the 15th century, the Ottoman akçe became the preferred currency in the transactions of merchants from the Saxon cities of Transylvania, particularly in trading with other two Romanian countries, Wallachia and Moldavia.

During the last decades, only few numismatic studies regarding the activity of the Transylvanian mints during the voivodeships and the regency of John Hunyadi are known. The reason is related to the rarity of monetary discoveries during that timeframe. Even in the case of known discoveries, this type of coins often being very depreciated, or with a high rate of dispersion in the structures of the hoards, comparative analysis of silver fineness or stylistic features, specific to Transylvanian mints during the middle of the 15th century, were not possible. An excellent opportunity for such a study arose thanks to the National Museum of Romanian History’s acquisition of a numismatic collection of this thematic. Thus, researching and publishing about the 16 trialis and eagle denars, coming mostly from the Transylvanian mints, became possible. Starting from the coin lot’s structure, the conclusions of the study crystallized around two chronological turning points:
1) The reorganization of the Transylvanian coinage during 1440 and 1441, in the context of the coronation of the Hungarian king Wladislaw I and the civil war that followed.
2) The activity of the Transylvanian monetary chamber, located in Sibiu, starting from the reform of the eagle denar in the spring of 1444 until its reorganization in May 1445 which marks, in the monetary history of Transylvania, the beginning of the Interregnum period.
As a first conclusion regarding the 1440-1441 timeframe, the coronation of Wladislaw I as king of Hungary was noted by an increase in monetary activity in Transylvania, highlighted by the establishment of the two new monetary mints in Cluj and Alba Iulia. The comparative analysis of the symbols used in the Alba Iulia mint mark, relative to the Gothic initial „h”, which represents the Sibiu mint, brought a contribution regarding this type of coins determination. Thus, as a result of the new monetary privileges granted in 1440, trialis denars were struck in the name of King Wladislaw I in four Transylvanian mints: Brașov, Sighișoara, Cluj and Alba Iulia. Strongly depreciated, these monetary issues continued the following year, when they also start to originate from Sibiu. Still in the name of King Wladislaw I, trialis denars were also struck in the monetary chamber of Baia Mare which, during that time, was under the control of the Serbian despot Gheorghe Branković. The restoration of a secure and stable political climate, during the autumn of 1440, played an important role in increasing the number of Transylvanian mints. After his appointment as voivode of Transylvania, John Hunyadi began to impose his own policies and partnerships on economic and monetary activity in Transylvania. A relevant example consists of the re-emergence in the local coinage of the Florentine financiers, Antonius and Christophorus, with whom he will form a lasting partnership in the attempts to reform the coinage and monetary production in Transylvania, both in 1444 and during the regency, at the introduction of the lion denar. Trained in the career of military strategy at the court of the Duke of Milan, Filip Maria Visconti, the aspiring voivode, thus proves that he learned from his Italian experience both about military techniques and the importance of finance in the art of war.
In the second part of the study, thanks to the novel numismatic material, an updated classification of the Sibiu eagle denar issues were developed. In addition to the types recently published in RCAN, Nr. 5, a new iconographic type of the eagle denars was classified (Type IV from Annex 2). Its characteristic is that the obverse of the coins bears the representation of the Hungarian shield and the mint marks, while the Polish eagle is represented on the reverse. Such a variant was known to come exclusively from the Buda royal chamber. This type was considered because of a transitional measure adopted by the Diet of April 1445 when, it turns out that it was applied both to Buda and the Transylvanian monetary chambers. Such a measure, prior to the re-unification of the Hungarian monetary system during the Interregnum, would have contributed to facilitating the monetary circulation of a unitary currency throughout the Hungarian kingdom, until the mints’ reorganization in May 1445.
The role that John Hunyadi played during the Diet of April 18th, 1444, counselling King Wladislaw I, in promoting the idea of the introduction of a valuable silver denar is already known. Numismatic sources have also argued for this reform’s success in the Transylvanian landscape. Remarkable, however, is the tenacity of the voivode who not only refuses to accept the consequences of the disastrous defeat at Varna, but even, once regrouped in Transylvania, deals with the reorganization of the anti-Ottoman resistance, not only militarily but also monetarily.

The Cretisoara treasure, discovered in the proximity of Campulung Muscel, is one of the six hoards made up substantialy of Emden and Jever-Oldenburg guilders, discovered in the northwestern Wallachia.
Compact by structure, the hoard it is made up exclusively of high value silver coins, 22 florins (28 stüweri guilders) issued in the free City of Emden (1624-1657) by the city mint, or in the Jever Castle (1640, 1649-1651), residence of Anton Günther Count of Oldenburg and Delmenhorst. Also, pottery fragments characteristic for local workshops, was found with the coins, parts of a jar that stored the hoard.
As a result of numismatic investigation, a number of stylistic variants of the Jever samples, were identified and classified on the basis of the abbreviations used by engravers in representing the name of the issuer „Antonii Guntheri comitis Oldenburgici et Delmenhorstensis dominus in Jever et Kniphausen” or the title of the Holy Roman Emperor: „Ferdinandus III. dei gratia Romanorum imperator semper augustus”.

The study of high-value silver coins on the territory of Wallachia, especially those associated with the lion taller (leuwen daalder), has so far benefited from extensive synthesis studies, studies that have given us viable hypotheses applicable to Romanian space. However, investigating the monetary hoards in detail, particularities of local monetary circulation can be argued on the basis of their structural analysis in the context of complementary epigraphic or documentary sources. The hoard discovered at the Church of the Saxons in Târgovişte (catholic church St. Margaret that disappeared) during the archaeological campaign from 1962 to 1963 is a very eloquent example in this respect. Composed of leuwen daalders and guldens of 28 stüveri, the hoard is an important numismatic source that provides novel information about the currency in circulation in the winter capital of Wallachia, during the second half of the 17th century.

The archaeological findings at St. Jacob Church (Bărăția) in Câmpulung, from the 1963 campaign, located in present in The National Museum of Romanian History collections, have not yet been investigated. By numismatic investigation, comparative analysis with similar findings and research of written documents, several assumptions have emerged. First, relevant for the local monetary circulation, as well as for the entire Wallachia in 15th century, the circulation of Vlad Dracu’s currency, the “Wallachian ban”, was sustainably connected with the local trading flows, inside and around the town. The most significant cluster of the coins investigated were minted between the last two decades of the 17th century and the first decade of the 19th century, a period of cultural dominance of the “ban” as money of account. Therefore, the small currency, the petty cash familiar to the local communities, has been structurally researched by provenience. Taking in account on the one hand the balance between the inflows from the two financial systems, the Habsburgic one and the Ottoman one, and on the other hand, the most relevant political and military events of that time, two major periods were divided. For each one of them, particular monetary circulation characteristics were identified: some of them were subscribed to the general characteristics related to the Wallachian flows, while others are being specific to the local monetary circulation.

Detailed numismatic research of the 17th century hoard from Câmpulung Muscel
Abstract: Câmpulung was one of the earliest urban settlements in Wallachia and also its first capital, in the 14th century. There was a considerable trading process with Tansylvania during the 16th and 17th centuries over the Bran Pass, the Transylvanian Saxons contributing to its development by bringing the German urban culture. Museum of Campulung has in collections a hoard completed in 1608, consisting in 24 medium and large silver coins of different values and denominations: 20 troyaks, one şostak and 3 thalers, issued in mints located in Poland, Lituania, Bohemia, Tyroll and even Transylvania. Having in regard that the hoard was discovered in the area of the northern inn of Câmpulung (the final stop of the trading route from Braşov), it makes it the most relevant numismatic evidence in connecting the town's economic life within the new challenging European context of the 16th and 17th centuries, with local, regional and macro-level monetary circulation. By studying the coinage details, marks and mintage aspects of the coins and making regional correlations regarding different mints operating at the end of 16th century, important clues has been revealed, related to the place or region of the coins capitalization. In monetary economics, connecting the region of capitalization with the place of their discovery is just a matter of the velocity of the trading process. How fast coins change hands in the economy during their way to Campulung? In any circumstances, if local commercial trade was the link or an export-import process, there is one single conclusion: The economic life in Câmpulung region, at the end of 16th-17th century, was strongly connected with Transylvanian financial system and economy, trading between local and foreign merchandisers being further connected with the Central European routes. Therefore, by using recently published directories in polish, habsburgic or transylvanian coinage and based on extensive analytic approach in numismatic research, new assumptions have been revealed, regarding the sources of monetary inflows in town’s local economy: due to external tradings of local products (ex. bees honey and wax) or due to political reasons (financial support granted by Rudolf the 2nd to Mihai Viteazul, during the Holly Leagues War against the Ottoman Empire).  Also an important assumption related to the lack of Ottoman currency, in local monetary circulation, was explained and substantiated due to absorption of this devalued monetary coinage , by the tax system. Câmpulung monetary circulation's local peculiarities support and confirm professor Murgescu’s hypothesis regarding the monetary circulation in this contact areas of the three major monetary systems: of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, of the Holy Roman Empire and the one of Ottoman Empire: “In such situations of the contact area, variety is regular, and possible uniformity is the exception that requires further investigation “.