Papal States 1773 testone
This specimen was lot 1608 in Künker sale 403 (Osnabrück, March 2024), where it sold for €800 (about US$1,050 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"Clemens XIV. 1769-1774. Testone A V/1773, Rom. Stempelschneider Filippo Cropanese. Mit Wappen des Presidente della zecca, Giovanni Gregori, auf der Rückseite. Feine Tönung, kl. Stempelfehler, vorzüglich-Stempelglanz. (Papal States, Clement XIV, 1769-74, testone of the year 5, 1773, Rome mint, with the mintmaster's arms on the reverse. Fine toning, minor die flaws, extremely fine to uncirculated.)"
This type is listed in the SCWC for 1770 and 1773, one of the few multiyear types listed therein. It was struck for pope Clement XIV (1769-74). The testone was thirty baiocchi, while the piastra, the Italian equivalent of the German thaler, was 105 baiocchi. The 1770 issue is dated in Roman numerals.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 7.93 g, 0.917 fine silver, this specimen 7.92 g.
Catalog reference: Muntoni 5; Toffanin 2738/2 (R), Ber-2931, KM 1021.
- Berman, Allen G., Papal Coins, South Salem, NY: Attic Books, 1991.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- 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.
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