The text describes Rudolf Mękicki's private numismatic collection. The collection includes, among others, Jan Zamoyski's iron medallion, as well as coins, religious medallions, plaques, orders, banknotes, serfdom stamps or exlibrises (Source: "Ziemia. Tygodnik Krajoznawczy Ilustrowany", Warsaw 1912, no. 20, pp. 4-6, no. 21, pp. 8-11, after: the Wielkopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa).

A modernised reading of the text.

Polish collections
XI. R. Mękicki's collection in Lviv.

This time we will describe one of Lviv's private numismatic collections. While in a series of descriptions of Lviv's most interesting collections we do not adhere to any system that takes into account the greater or lesser value or content of the collection, it is only by chance that we open the numismatic section of Lviv's collections with a description of a collection that stands out for its scientific value. Only a few collectors in Lviv collect valuable numismatic items, understood of course in the broadest sense (i.e. coins, medals, medallions, tokens, badges, medallions, metal stamps, orders, etc.). On the other hand, there are more amateurs who, apart from their speciality, devote themselves to collecting numismatic coins, if they can interest them in some of their qualities. Thus we know of collectors of works of art, artistic industry, fine art, etc. in Lviv who pay attention to certain numismatic items precisely for these reasons. It is, of course, understandable that collections of this kind, whether of coins, medals or medallions, can no longer stand up to the level of professional collecting in this section, even though they are often of great value even to science. In each of the following descriptions we will also not fail to mention which sections make up the whole collection in question, without, however, going into a more detailed examination of its subordinate parts. We reserve detailed descriptions primarily for the section which represents the collector's speciality and is thus of greatest value to science as a collection owing its existence and possible development to the knowledge and expertise of its owner. In the current state of affairs, one can only be a specialist within very narrow limits. The accumulation of everything (even if it is individually and unquestionably valuable), without a strictly defined plan, leads only to a very small extent to the ultimate goal - the achievement of which the skilful collecting of today has set itself. Such is the great knowledge of Mr Rudolf Mękicki, whose numismatic collection we have chosen as the subject of this description. Just as one is born a poet, painter or sculptor, so too many are born collectors. This truth can be perfectly applied to the person of Mr Mękicki, who, at the age of eleven, found the greatest pleasure in collecting and hoarding coins and various old objects, which only a few years later made up a small collection of antiquities. Along this path, the young collector finally came to specialise in numismatics with almost all its sections, of course, only within the limits of Polish specimens. Nowadays, the only and exclusive object of collecting for Mr Mękicki are the numismatic items themselves: medals, medallions, tokens, badges, religious medallions, metal stamps and similar objects, nowadays included in numismatics. Wider circles know Mr Mękicki from his works printed in Krakow's "Wiadomosci Numizm.-Archeologiczne", and especially from his beautifully published monograph "Medals of Grunwald" (Lviv 1911, illustr.); his dissertation on Polish religious medals is also highly regarded. As a talented draughtsman, he also excelled in his works in the field of applied arts. His work includes the beautiful cover to the above-mentioned "Medals of Grunwald", the cover to the book by Fr Jaworski ("Lviv Old and Yesterday", 1911, issue 2), and a number of ex-librises of private Lviv and Krakow bookshops. Mr Mękicki also marked his books with his own style ex-libris. As a collector, Mr Mękicki is characterised by thorough mastering the subject of his speciality both in theory and practice. There is not a single scholarly work for him, numismatic of course, that he would not know, the smallest detail of which he would not be able to quote from memory if necessary. To this should be added the great knowledge that numismatists acquire through diligent study of antiquarian and auction catalogues, which Mr Mękicki probably possesses to the highest degree. It is therefore surprising that in a relatively short period of time, with such a theoretical education, he managed to take his place among numismatists in particular and Lviv collectors in general. Mr Meczicki, Mr K. Majer and Mr Goldsztein are the only collectors in Lwow who collect only numismats. A participant in almost all possible auctions, Mr Mękicki seems to be always thinking about how to complete his collection and would like to round it up seriously; this goal is difficult for him to achieve as he would never agree to include a specimen in his collection, even if it was visibly damaged or badly reflected, under any condition. He also prefers to wait patiently, rather than decide to include a damaged object in his inventory; while in other cases he is not very patient, in this case he stoically tells himself that "one day he will get his hands on a nicer specimen". This patience has already been rewarded more than once with positive results, as evidenced by a whole series of exceptionally well-preserved specimens adorning Mr Mękicki's collection. As mentioned above, the described collection includes: coins, medals, religious medallions, medallions and plaques, orders and badges of honour, banknotes, private coins, serfs' stamps and a handy numismatic library. Among the various coin sections there are Polish, Lithuanian, Halicko-Ruthenian, Kurlandzkie, minted for cities - Gdańsk, Elbląg, Toruń, Lviv, Krakow, etc. from the times of the first Piasts to the last years of the Congress Kingdom (1864). The majority of these are small coins. Many pieces undescribed or completely unknown. The reign of almost every king is represented by a considerable number of specimens. The most interesting ones include: brakteates with Hebrew inscriptions, a nice series of coins minted by Casimir the Great, Władysław Jagiełło and Władysław the Duke of Opole for the Red Ruthenia. Opolski for the Red Ruthenia and Lviv, the Poznan denarii of Jadwiga (Czapski 6994 RT and C£ -), a very rich collection of crown orts of Sigismund III, a collection of crown trojacks with first-rate rarities among them (several types unknown to Czapski or Walewski), Lithuanian trojacks with the Swan coat of arms, a very beautifully preserved copy with the Bogorya coat of arms from 1608. Other valuable coins include the kopiejki of Władysław (IV) Zygmuntowicz, Danzig thalers, a significant number of sixpences and orts from the times of Jan Kazimierz (Lviv, Poznań and Bydgoszcz orts), splendidly preserved coins of Jan III, the Saxons and St. Augustus. These are followed by coins of the Duchy of Warsaw and the Congress Kingdom, coins of the Free City of Gdańsk, coins minted during the siege of Zamość (two-zloty and six-zloty coins), coins of the Republic of Cracow and others connected with the history of Poland. The main section of Mr Mękicki's collection is medals, which he does not, however, try to collect in the whole known set - which would be impossible - but he only sets himself the task of collecting some groups of only those which he intends to work out scientifically in the future. Accordingly, it collects: 1) Lviv medals, of which it already possesses 105 (more than the number of medals possessed by the National Museum of King Sobieski in Lviv), 2) emigration medals and medals related to Lviv. 2) emigration medals and medals from 1830, 1846, 1848, 1861 and 1863/4, 3) medals from the battle of Grunwald (the complete set described above), 4) medals from Kościuszko (a beautiful collection), 5) medals from Mickiewicz (37 medals so far), 6) patriotic medals and religious medals, and 7) medals of honour and awards from the secondary schools in Krzemieniec, Chynow, Lviv and elsewhere. There is also no shortage of royal medals, among which the reign of John III is represented by 30 specimens, as well as medals in honour of distinguished people, both Polish and foreign, connected with Polish history. Of the more interesting or undescribed Lviv medals of note are the medal for the occupation of Lviv 1774 "SIS b'ELIX MAGNO..." (with a map of eastern Galicia).), a medal for the Philosophical Faculty 1817, a silver Chopin medal from the Congress of Polish Musicians 1910 (unique), samples of Tyczynski medals, a silver medal of Lukasiewicz, the founder of the oil industry, a Ludw. Wierzbicki plaque, Bełtowski works, a large silver bonus medal of the Galician Music Society, Lviv religious medals and many others. Of non-Lvov medals of interest are the Rapperswil trial medal for the anniversary of the 1831 uprising, crosses from 1861-64, patriotic religious medals with a broken cross, and the medals of the Battle of Grunwald, described and reproduced in the above-mentioned monograph. Of the Kościuszko medals, an interesting one is a small oval medallion colourfully enamelled, with a bust almost en face and the inscription: "Kościuszko". From Mickiewicz medals: a (round) cast medal, one-sided 55 mm in diameter, probably to commemorate the death of the Bard. From private individuals - an unknown medal by F. W. Hauser with the inscription "REGIO LITHUANA MAGM...", a medal by Łaski, Hevelius and others. Among the religious medals, several old and several newer lace medals stand out, e.g. the "oczajowska" lace in bronze, the oval medal of St. Casimir with traces of gilding from the 18th century, a considerable number of medals in honour of Polish saints, etc. The youngest section in Mr R. Mękicki's collection is the section of medallions, which the owner started to assemble only last year. What he has managed to collect so far may serve as the best illustration for the above mentioned characteristics of Mr Mękicki as a collector; thanks to his amazing diligence, he was able to collect, within just a few months, about 50 pieces, many of them rare and unknown to authors who dealt with the description of medallions. Thus, of those not mentioned in Fr. Jaworski¹) the collection under discussion contains the following: a large iron medallion by Słowacki, two medallions by Sienkiewicz (the work of Korosadowicz and Certowiczówna), a terracotta medallion by Mickiewicz dating from 1890, a medallion by Chopin and a medallion for the burning of Cracow. The most interesting items are Zamoyski's iron medallion and a plaque with Polish leaders, which, as they have not yet been reproduced anywhere, we herewith publish for the first time and describe in detail. An iron medallion with Zamoyski's bust, modelled after Gatteaun (Fr. Jaworski no. 40 - similar, mistakenly after Caunois). An extremely fine and excellent original French casting from the first half of the 19th century. Diameter 90 mm, weighing only 45.5 g. A specimen unknown to date. The bust on this medallion, as on the one described in Jaworski under no. 491, or on the medal described in Czapski under no. 4067, is modelled by the French sculptor Gatteau, based on an old contemporary medal with the inscription "UTRAQECIVIS" (Cz. no. 4065). As for other details, one can rely on the attached likeness according to the original photograph. The second interesting, but hitherto unknown specimen, is a rectangular zinc-bronze plaque with busts of Kościuszko, Rejtan, Poniatowski, Dąbrowski and Kiliński. On the sides, on one side, a bunch of scythes and an eagle on oak leaves; on the other, a flag unfurled, on which the inscription: "THEY FEED AND DEFEND". At the top, a tripartite shield with the coats of arms of Poland, Lithuania and Ruthenia; at the bottom, a procession of blackbirds and the capture of a cannon. Bold modelling, the artist's hand is known. The unknown maker did not take the trouble to study the exact likeness and uniforms of the Polish troops, as a result of which the busts of Poniatowski and Dąbrowski look rather fantastic. The work was most probably done in Warsaw. So far this plaque is known from a single copy from the collection of Mr Mękicki. Size 325 x 252 mm. Particularly interesting in Mr Mękicki's collection, reproduced in the accompanying drawing, are the serf stamps, embossed on one side from thin brass plate. Two of them have the year 1816 stamped on them; the first was for half a day's work, the second for a whole day, the third for a day's work by horse or cart, and the fourth, finally, for a day's corvée labour on foot. This seems to be the first time we have published similar stamps, known only from memoirs and historical diaries; a somewhat larger collection of similar specimens is held by Mr Boi. Wysłouch and somewhat Mr St. Zarewicz in Lviv. This concludes the description of the most skilfully collected numismatic collection in Lviv, next to which, however, the collection of Mr. K. Majer and Mr. M. Goldstein should be mentioned. Other numismatic collectors of Lviv include Dr. A. Czolowski, Fr. Jaworski, St. Zarewicz and other amateurs. Of the public collections, the following institutions have numismatic collections: Ossolineum (18,000 coins and 5 medals), Municipal Industrial Museum (200 medals), Jan Sobieski National Museum (300 medals), c. k. University Library (900 coins and 50 Polish medals) and Pawlikowski Library (2,500 coins and 1,000 Polish medals).