Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Écu au soleil - Francis I of France
| Issuer | Republic of Genoa (1139-1797) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1527-1528 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Round (irregular) |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A floriated or lilied cross extends to the inner circle, its terminals decorated with fleurs-de-lis, rising from between two columnar pillars that frame the base of the composition. The reverse legend, invoking the name of the legendary Carolingian King Conrad as protector of Genoa, runs around the outer border in Latin characters within a beaded circle, a traditional Genoese numismatic convention maintained throughout the medieval and Renaissance periods. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
This piece dates to one of the most turbulent episodes in Genoese history. In 1527, Andrea Doria — Genoa's most powerful admiral — was still nominally in French service, and the city remained under French political dominance. Francis I's monetary types circulated through Genoa as a direct expression of that dominance, struck locally under French authority. Within a year, Doria defected to Emperor Charles V and negotiated the establishment of the new Genoese republic, ending French control entirely. Coins of this precise type were obsolete almost immediately.