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2 Doppie - Vincent I
| Issuer | Duchy of Mantua (Italian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1590 |
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| Currency | Scudo |
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| Obverse description | Bare-headed, armored bust of Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, facing right, with curling hair and elaborately engraved cuirass visible at the truncation. The portrait is rendered in a vigorous late Renaissance style with fine detail in the hair and armor. A beaded inner border frames the field. The circumferential Latin legend reads VIN D G DVX MANT IIII ET MON F II, identifying the ruler as Vincenzo, by the grace of God fourth Duke of Mantua and second of Monferrat. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | THESAVRO E VET CVR RECL LET SIGN ROBOR SISTIT 1590 |
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| Additional information |
Vincent I inherited Mantua in 1587 under immediate financial strain — the Gonzaga court's notorious appetite for arts patronage, festival spectacle, and military posturing had already stretched ducal finances thin before he took the throne. Large gold multiples like this 2 Doppie were not everyday currency; they functioned as prestige instruments, used for diplomatic gifts, mercenary payments, and the kind of transaction where the weight of the coin was itself the message.
The .986 fineness is exceptionally high for the period, consistent with Mantuan gold coinage struck before the debasements that crept into later Gonzaga issues.