Poland, John II Casimir Copper Szelag (1659-1661) Good Very Fine

John II Casimir, son of Sigismund III, was born in Kraków on 22 March 1609. In 1648, following the death of his older half-brother, he was elected to the Polish throne by the Polish Parliament. John Casimir actually married his brother’s widow, Marie Louise, but she died suddenly in 1667 and this may have caused the monarch’s early political decline as on 16 September 1668, grief-stricken after the death of his wife in the previous year, John II Casimir abdicated the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and returned to France, where he rejoined the Jesuits and became abbot of Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris. These small copper coins were struck between 1659-1661 and have the portrait of John Casimir facing right with the legend IOAN CAS REX on the obverse and on the reverse an eagle with wings spread and the legend SOLI REG (Ślepowron arms) POLO followed by the date. They are quite high grade (Good Very Fine) for coins that circulated over 350 years ago and very affordable too.