Avignon (1585) 6 bianchi
This specimen was lot 1342 in Künker sale 403 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €700 (about US$919 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"PAPST SIXTUS V., 1585-1590. Die Münzstätte Avignon. 6 Bianchi (Pinatelle) o. J. (1585), Avignon, geprägt unter Cardinale Legato Carlo di Borbone (Charles de Bourbon). Von großer Seltenheit. Leichte Belagreste, sehr schön. (Papal States, Sixtus V, 1585-90, undated six bianchi or pinatelle, circa 1585, Avignon mint, struck under cardinal legate Charles de Bourbon. Extremely rare, lightly pitted, very fine.)"
Avignon was a papal enclave in Provence entirely surrounded by France. Several popes lived there in the fourteenth century when anarchy in Rome made it impossible for papal rule to function. By the late sixteenth century, the popes had long left and the county was ruled by a cardinal legate, who issued this billon piece. Coinage ended in the mid seventeenth century and Avignon was annexed to France in 1791.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: billon, this specimen 3,81 g.
Catalog reference: Berman 1391; Muntoni 90; Toffanin 1348/1 (RRRRR).
- Berman, Allen G., Papal Coins, South Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1991.
- Francesco Muntoni, Le Monete del Papi e Degli Stati Pontifici, 4 vols. Rome: P & P Santamaria, 1973.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 403: Coins and Medals of the Popes - The significant collection of a southwest German entrepreneur, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
Link to: