The Dotted I’s and Crossed T’s on Galician-Ruthenian Copper Coinage of the 14th Century

In the 14th century, copper coins of Galician Ruthenia were minted at the Lviv mint, most of which can be easily attributed to dated issuers. However, among them there are coins of two types that arouse controversy. These are variants with a crown on both sides of the coin ( crown/crown type) and a coin with two initials ( K/crowned L type). Almost all researchers, with the exception of perhaps only Borys Paszkiewicz, date the coins of the crown/crown type to the period before 1370, when the Polish King Casimir III the Great ruled in Galician Ruthenia. The analysis of the dies and die-chains presented in the present article allow us to attribute the coins to Louis of Hungary and refer their issue to the years 1378–1382, as suggested by B. Paszkiewicz. So far, coins of the K/crowned L type were dated to the years of the reign of Louis of Hungary. However, the analysis of the material from hoards and the shape of the punch with letter L indicate that they were minted during the interregnum in Lviv, i.e. between the end of 1370 (the date of King Casimir’s death) and October 1372 (when Władysław Opolczyk, who was appointed the governor of the Hungarian king, Louis in Galician Ruthenia, arrived in Lviv).