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10 Tornesi - Francesco II Rome

Issuer Naples Mint
Year 1859
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Engraver(s) Luigi Arnaud
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Obverse description Bare-headed effigy of Francis II of the Two Sicilies in left-facing profile, rendered in high relief with fine naturalistic detail in the hair and facial features. The portrait is centrally positioned, occupying the majority of the field, with a plain, unadorned neck truncation. The surrounding legend reads FRANCISCVS II. D. G. REGNI VTR. SIC. ET HIER. REX., disposed along the full circumference of the coin in upright Roman capitals. The field is smooth and unadorned, with no exergue line or additional embellishment.
Obverse script Latin
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Additional information

Francesco II ascended the Neapolitan throne in May 1859, just as the Second Italian War of Independence was dismantling the political order that had kept the Bourbon kingdom intact. This 10 Tornesi was struck during what proved to be the final year of independent coinage for the Two Sicilies — Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand landed in Sicily the following year, and by late 1860 the kingdom had ceased to exist as a sovereign entity.

The tornesi denomination itself was ancient by 1859, traceable to the Angevin period in Naples. Francesco II struck it for barely a year before the mint passed to unified Italian administration.

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