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1 Diamante - Hercules I
| Issuer | Ferrara, Duchy of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1475-1492 |
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| Value | 1 Diamante = 1 Grosso (0.1) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Full-length frontal figure of Saint Maurelius, vested in episcopal robes and wearing a mitre, with a rose emblem on his chest. His right hand is raised in the gesture of benediction while his left hand holds a crozier. The figure is rendered in the Gothic hammered style typical of late 15th-century Italian coinage. The circular Latin legend runs along the coin's periphery within a beaded border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Central device consisting of a stylized flower, likely a rose or lily, set within a garlanded diamond ring — the personal impresa of Duke Ercole I d'Este. The diamond ring motif, a dynastic emblem of the Este family, is rendered with decorative foliage and flanking ornamental elements. A crown surmounts the central composition. The circular Latin legend, referencing Psalm 117:16, runs along the periphery within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Ercole I d'Este ruled Ferrara through a period of almost constant military entanglement, most ruinously the War of Ferrara (1482–1484) against Venice, which stripped the duchy of territory and left its finances severely damaged. The diamante — named for the diamond ring device that the Este family used as a dynastic emblem — was minted within that strained fiscal environment, making high-quality surviving examples rarer than the CNI die listing range might suggest.
The MIR 259 attribution covers a span of nearly two decades, and die studies within CNI X place at least fourteen distinguishable varieties across that range.