Achaia (1346-64) ducat Fr-38a
This specimen was lot 42421 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2023), where it sold for $264. The catalog description[1] noted, "ITALY. Imitations of Venice. Achaia. Ducat, ND (1346-64). Robert d'Angio-Tarente. PCGS Genuine--Ex Jewelry, AU Details." In the late middle ages, before the advent of the Ottoman Turks, many of the Aegean islands were under the rule of various petty princelings. To gain wider acceptance of their coinage, minters often imitated better-known coins such as the Venetian ducat. Wikipedia comments,
"The Principality of Achaea or Principality of Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire, which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, along with the Duchy of Athens, until Thessalonica was captured by Theodore, the despot of Epirus, in 1224. After this, Achaea became for a while the dominant power in Greece."
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.50 g, 0.986 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-38a.
- Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg, Gold Coins of the World, From Ancient Times to the Present, 9th ed., Clifton, NJ: Coin and Currency Institute, 2017.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The January 2023 NYINC Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, featuring the Taraszka Collection and the Mark and Dottie Salton Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
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