Venice (1761)-ZD 1/2 scudo
This specimen was lot 30516 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Chicago, August 2022), where it sold for $1,800. The catalog description[1] noted, "ITALY. Venice. 1/2 Scudo, ND (1761)-ZD. Francesco Loredan. NGC MS-65. An elite Gem, this wholesome specimen delivers premium quality as the sole finest example certified by NGC. Delicate luster is seldom encroached upon by contact or strafe, with the semi-reflective fields being particularly handsome. A charming piece for the Italian specialist." The mintmaster's initials (for Zuanne Dolfin) date this coin to 1761. The SCWC notes that the scudo varied between 31.83 g and 30.66 g in the eighteenth century. The half scudo had a face value of seventy soldi. By this period, Venice was a ghost of her former power, surviving only on the sufferance of her Austrian and Turkish neighbors.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 15.91 g, 0.948 fine silver, 36-37 mm diameter.
Catalog reference: KM 639 (formerly KM-C33).
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The 2022 ANA Auction - Ancients & World Coins - Featuring The Salton Collection Part III, the Augustana Collection and the Robert C. Knepper Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2022.
Link to: