Venice (1779-89) 1/2 zecchino Fr-1435
This specimen was lot 1310 in Künker sale 352 (Osnabruck, Germany, September 2021), where it sold for €500 (about US$696 including buyer's fees). The catalog description[1] noted,
"ITALIEN, VENEDIG, Paolo Renier, 1779-1789. 1/2 Zecchino o. J. GOLD. R Sehr schön-vorzüglich. (Italy, republic of Venice, Paolo Renier, 1779-89, undated half zecchino. Rare, very fine to extremely fine.)"
The Duchy of Venice was actually an oligarchy nominally ruled by an elected doge. 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 zecchino, or ducat, remained fixed in design for centuries, changing only the ruler's name.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.75 g, 0.986 fine gold, this specimen 1.73 g.
Catalog reference: KM 713 (formerly KM C106), Fr-1435; Montenegro 3072.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- 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.
- Montenegro, Eupremio, Montenegro 2015: Manuale del Collezionista di Monete Italiane, 30 ed., Torino, Italy: Montenegro s.a.s., 2014.
- Rafaele Paolucci, La Zecca di Venezia, 2 vols. Padua, 1991.
- [1]Künker, Fritz Rudolf, Horst-Rudiger Künker, Ulrich Künker and Andreas Kaiser, Künker Auktion 352: Die Sammlung Hermann Schwarz: Faszination des gepragten Goldes. Osnabrück: Fritz Rudolf Künker GmbH & Co., AG, 2021.
Link to:
- Venice (1763-78) 1/2 zecchino Fr-1422, Alvise Moncenigo IV
- Venice (1779-89) 1/2 soldo = bezzo = 6 denari
- (1779-89) soldo
- (1779-80)-RB quarto ducato, struck in gold
- (1779)-LAF mezzo scudo
- (1779-89)-AD ducato
- (1779-81)-AF ducato
- (1779)-BC ducatone
- (1779)-LAF ducatone
- (1779-89) scudo
- Venice (1779-89) zecchino Fr.1434
- Venice (1779-89) 40 zecchini Fr-1426
- Venice (1789-97) 1/2 zecchino Fr-1446, Lodovico Manin
- Coins and currency dated 1779