МІДНІ ІМІТАЦІЇ ДЕНАРІЇВ ВЕЛИКОГО КНЯЗЯ ЛИТОВСЬКОГО КАЗИМИРА IV ЯГЕЛЛОНЧИКА, ЗНАЙДЕНІ НА СУМЩИНІ
COPPER IMITATIONS OF THE DENARII OF THE GRAND DUKE OF LITHUANIA CASIMIR IV JAGIELLON FROM THE SUMY REGION

Summary/Abstract: The publication of finds of imitative medieval coinage has been, remains, and undoubtedly will continue to be highly relevant for the development of numismatic studies, as well as for the investigation of the history of monetary circulation, technological aspects of coin production, and methods of counterfeiting early coinage. Accordingly, the article proposed by the authors is timely, as it introduces into scholarly circulation a corpus of copper imitations of silver coins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania dated to the 1440s, discovered in the Sumy region of Ukraine. The imitations of denarii of Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV Jagiellon occur in varying states of preservation, with the majority being corroded or poorly struck. The aim of the article is to introduce into scholarly circulation a group of copper coins which are most likely imitative issues of Lithuanian silver denarii of the 1440s, recovered between 2021 and 2025 in an agricultural field within the Konotop district of the Sumy region. Research methodology. The study applies methods of comparative analysis, numismatic identification and typology, visual examination, energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) analysis of the metal composition, as well as descriptive statistical methods. Conclusions and major research results. The conducted study of copper coins resembling the denarii of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV Jagiellon, whose concentration of finds has been recorded in the Konotop district of Sumy region, indicates that these coins do not represent an official issue of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Moreover, the energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis of the metal of one specimen, carried out by the authors, confirmed the absence of any signs of counterfeiting, such as silvering or tinning of the coin surface. According to the authors, the coins examined in this article may represent yet another example of a local (regional) coinage within the Ukrainian lands in the late Middle Ages that imitates the denarii of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir IV Jagiellon. The concentration of these imitative finds in the Konotop district of Sumy region may indicate that their minting was localized in this area. However, a more plausible assumption, in the opinion of the authors, is that these coins were a specially organized issue conducted by a person vested with authority and possessing the necessary organizational, technological, and financial capabilities for his own purposes, such as an economic, political, or military campaign. Considering the period of minting of authentic denarii and the internal situation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 1440s, this issue could have been initiated by the Lithuanian prince Mykhailo Sigizmundovych, who held the title of Prince of Starodub and Bryansk in 1432–1445. It is quite possible that the coins under study reached the territory of Sumy region in 1449 during the brief occupation of the Sivershchyna by Mykhailo Sigizmundovych. These imitations require further research, particularly the mapping of findspots, which may help clarify the area of their distribution and production. Equally important is the implementation of a die study not only among the imitative coins themselves, but also in comparison with the dies of the authentic denarii they imitate.

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