Messerano (1528-48) testone
This specimen was lot 4746 in Künker sale 406 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €480 (about US$630 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ITALIEN, MESSERANO, Pier Luca II. Fieschi, 1528-1548. Testone o. J. Winz. Schrötlingsfehler, vorzüglich. (Italy, county of Messerano, Peter Lucas II Fieschi, undated testone. Minor planchet flaws, extremely fine.)"
The Fieschi were a family which produced numerous high ranking churchmen, including several cardinals and a pope (Adrian V, 1276). This particular scion is obscure. Messerano is on the Milanese side of the border between Savoy/Sardinia and Milan. St. Theonestus, on the reverse, was martyred in the 3rd century AD and his relics were supposedly in the cathedral of Vercelli before its demolition in the 16th century.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: silver, this specimen 9.39 g.
Catalog reference: Varesi 711 (R).
- Craig, William D., Germanic Coinages: Charlemagne through Wilhelm II, Mountain View, CA: 1954.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
- Davenport, John S., European Crowns, 1484-1600, Frankfurt: Numismatischer Verlag, 1977.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Katalog 406: Gold Coins | Coins and Medals from the Medieval and Modern Times, a. o. Löwenstein-Wertheim | German Coins after 1871, a. o. Patterns from the Coenen Collection, Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2024.
Link to:
- Messerano (1525) testone Ludovico II and Pier Luca Fieschi
- Messerano (1528-48) cornuto, Pier Luca Fieschi
- (1528-32) testone, bust obverse/St. Theonestus
- (1530-48) testone
- Coins and currency dated 1528