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1 centime - Felix et Elisa essai

Issuer Principality of Lucca and Piombino (Lucca, Italian States)
Year 1806
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Orientation Medal alignment ↑↑
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Obverse description Conjoined busts of Elisa Bonaparte and Félix Baciocchi facing left, with Elisa Bonaparte in the foreground, her effigy draped and adorned with a tiara, and Félix Baciocchi depicted bareheaded behind her. The portraits are rendered in a neoclassical style typical of the Napoleonic era. The circular legend surrounds the busts along the rim of the coin.
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Reverse script Latin
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Additional information

The Principality of Lucca and Piombino was carved out of Napoleonic reorganization in 1805 and handed to Félix Baciocchi largely because he had married Elisa Bonaparte. The territory was a political gift, not a strategic one. Essai pieces from this administration are pattern strikes produced for approval rather than circulation, which explains their survival in tin — a test medium cheap enough to waste and durable enough to preserve a die impression.

Lucca never developed a robust coinage infrastructure. Most essais from this principality exist in very small numbers, some in unique examples.

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