Venice (1539-45) scudo d'oro Fr-1450
This specimen was lot 30688 in Stack's Bowers ANA auction (Chicago, August 2014), where it sold for $481.75. The catalog description[1] noted, "ITALY. Venice. Scudo d'Oro, ND. Pietro Lando (1539-45). NGC AU Details--Surface Hairlines." The Duchy of Venice was actually an oligarchy nominally ruled by an elected doge. On the regular ducats, he is shown kneeling before the saint to indicate that he does not kneel before any living person, specifically the emperor or the pope. Despite his pretensions, Venetian independence was terminated by the Napoleonic invasions and the area fell to Austria in 1797. The scudo d'oro was supposed to be equal to the ducat.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 3.25 g, 0.917 fine gold.
Catalog reference: Fr-1450; Gig-31.
- 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.
- Rafaele Paolucci, La Zecca di Venezia, 2 vols. Padua, 1991.
- [1]Ponterio, Richard, The August 2014 Chicago ANA Auction: Ancient Coins, World Coins & Paper Money, Featuring the David O'Harrow Collection, Irvine, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2014.
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