Savoy (1482-90) parpagliola
This specimen was lot 912 in Jean Elsen sale 162 (Brussels, June 2025), where it sold for €90 (about US$125 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ITALIE, SAVOIE, Duché, Charles Ier (1482-1490), AR parpagliola, s.d., Cornavin. 2e type. Sigle GG (Nicola Gatti). D/ Écu de Savoie dans un trilobe. R/ Dans un quadrilobe, croix pattée cantonnée de quatre noeuds. (Italy, duchy of Savoy, Charles I, 1482-90, undated silver parpagliola, Cornavin mint, second type. Obverse: arms of Savoy within a trilobe; reverse: within a quadrilobe, a cross pattée cantonned with four clouds. Very Fine.)"
The parpagliola is obscure, but seems to have been a base silver coin worth 2 soldi and 6 denari occasionally struck in Savoy and Milan. This type was struck by the duke of Savoy just prior to the French occupation of Milan. The French invasion of Italy was the beginning of the end of the Renaissance as the devastation of the resulting war terminated Italian prosperity. Charles I died in 1490 of tuberculosis, aged 21 years.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: billon, this specimen 1,98 g.
Catalog reference: Sim. 10/4; M.I.R. 234.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 162: Collection Jacques Druart, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2025.
Link to:
- Savoy (1472-82) parpagliola, Philibert I
- Savoy (1482-90) teston
- Savoy (1482-90) ducat Fr-1028
- Savoy (1490-96) quarto, Carlo Giovanni Amedeo
- Savoy (1497-1504) 1/2 testone
- Coins and currency dated 1482