Matelių lobis (Molėtų r. 1622

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lobis; Mateliai; Matelių lobis; Monetos; Coins; Mateliai; The Mateliai hoard; Treasure.

ENThe Mateliai hoard in the district of Molėtai was found in the spring of 1954 while a field of rye was being plowed. It is one of the largest and most valuable finds in Lithuania (3,421 coins). Fragments of a linen sack were found together with the coins. No pot or fragments were noticed. Lithuanian and Polish coins constitute the bulk of the hoard. There are 2,286 Lithuanian coins in the hoard. The second most numerous category of coins came from the Riga mint (504 coins). There are also 353 coins that were minted at the Bydgosch (Bydgoschcz), Krakow, Lublin, Marienburg, Olkush, Posnan, and Wschowa mints. The most numerous are half-groats of Sigismund Augustus (937 coins) and shillings of Sigismund III Vasa (491). There are fewer Lithuanian groats (39) and threegroats (12). The content of the hoard indicates that in the first quarter of the 17th century, the Lithuanian half-groat and shillings, together with Riga shillings, constituted the most important part of coinage in circulation. Several rare Lithuanian coins were found in the hoard as well, such as the Sigismund I the Elder half-groat of 1529, with the letter "v" on the reverse, the Sigismund Augustus groat of 1545, the Sigismund III Vasa double denar of 1606, and the three-groat of 1601. In addition, the false half-groat of Sigismund Augustus, dated 1537 and 157..., were found. Along with Lithuanian and Polish money, various coins of Western European states were found in the hoard. Prussian coins and coinage from various German states and cities (for the most part, groats) appear in Lithuanian hoards. [...].Danish coins are also found in Lithuanian hoards. The one-mark coins of Christian IV are the most numerous. His eight-shilling coins are more rare. The Mateliai hoard contains Spanish coins, too. The silver eight-real coins of Spain and its colonies (Bolivia and Mexico) and coins of smaller denominations have been encountered in the Alkiškiai hoard in the district of Akmenė (hidden after 1667), the Gegužinė hoard in the district of Jonava (hidden in the middle of the 17th century), the Kalnaberžė hoard in the district of Radviliškis (hidden after 1665), and other hoards. Aside from the coins of Western European states (103 items), there were also Russian denga and kopecks from the 16th to the beginning of the 17th centuries in the hoards at Gegužinė, Žiūriai, Kalnaberžė, and elsewhere. There is no evidence of hoards containing Russian denga and kopecks hidden in the 16th century. It seems that the coins appeared for the most part only in the first quarter of the 17th century. Hoards which contain Russian coins of small denominations from the 16th and 17th centuries are mostly concentrated in the eastern part of Lithuania. Analysing the content of the Mateliai hoard, we are inclined to think that it had been collected over the course of many years. The oldest coins, half-groats of Casimir Jagellon (1447-1492), have been found here. The most recent coin was the ort (eighteen-groats) of Sigismund III Vasa in 1622. The Mateliai hoard is keeping in the Numismatics Department of the National Museum of Lithuania. [text from author]