Tuscany 1734 zecchino Fr-328
This specimen was lot 2036 in Jean Elsen sale 163 (Brussels, November 2025), where it sold for €400 (about US$462 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ITALIE, TOSCANE, Jean-Gaston de Médicis (1723-1737), AV fiorino d'oro, 1734, Florence. D/ Lis florentin. R/ Saint Jean-Baptiste assis à g. sur un rocher, levant la main et ten. une croix. Trace de monture. (Italy, grand duchy of Tuscany, Giovanni Gaston de Medicis, 1723-37, gold florin of 1734, FLorence mint. Obverse: fleur-de-lys; reverse: St. John the Baptist on a rock, raising his hand and holding a cross. Trace of a mount, Very Fine.)"
This type is listed for 1723-36 and is rare despite the many years of issue. By the early eighteenth century, Tuscany was a quiet backwater, no longer the proud republic of Florence, leader of the Renaissance. Duke Giovanni Gaston was the last of the Medici dukes; on his death in 1737 the grand duchy passed to Francis of Lorraine, husband of Maria Theresia of Austria. Tuscany remained in the hands of various Austrian princelings until she was annexed by France in 1807.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.49 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen is 3,48 g.
Catalog reference: M.I.R. 345/11; Fr-328.
- 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.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Elsen, Philippe, et al., Vente Publique 163, Brussels: Jean Elsen et ses Fils S.A., 2025.
Link to: