Parma 1612 2 doppie
This specimen was lot 913 in Stack's "Vermuele, Ward & Mexico Maxico" sale (New York, January 2010), where it did not sell. The catalog description[1] noted,
"ITALIAN STATES. PARMA. Ranuccio Farnese I, 1592-1622. 2 Doppie, 1612. Mailed bust l. in faint circle with titles Duke of Piacenza and Parma, Gonfaloniere of the Holy Church. Rv. Wind blowing clouds at left, Latin legend PELLIT. ET. ATTRAHIT, (the Wind) both repels and attracts. Tiny 'P' appears at lower l. shows this general type but that reverse had bold concentric circles at the legend not present on the coin offered here. This handsome Gold coin was struck specifically for Piacenza, which maintained its separate coinage types though ruled by the Dukes of Parma. This pleasingly heavy Gold coin shows the ruggedness characteristic of the somewhat crude hammer strike typical of Parma coinage. This significant rarity is somewhat off-round with an imprecise reverse legend that is partly off the planchet. Very Fine or better."
As a doppia was a double scudo, a two doppie was four scudi. The SCWC mentions this coin under Piacenza, not Parma, and notes that 1595 and 1613 dates also exist. A concurrent type (Fr-907) issued 1599-1622, features a she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus on the reverse.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 14 g, 0.986 fine gold, .443 troy oz AGW; this specimen 13.3 grams.
Catalog reference: Fr.905, CNI 19. CNI Pl. XXXIX:12.
- 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]Kraljevich, John, and Frank Van Valen, The Vermuele, Ward & Mexico Maxico Collections, New York: Stack's, 2009.
- Cuhaj, George S., and Thomas Michael, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1601-1700, 6th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2014.
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