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!
4 Doppie - Ferdinando
| Issuer | Duchy of Mantua (Italian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1612-1626 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Scudo |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Draped bust of Ferdinando Gonzaga, Cardinal and Duke of Mantua, facing right, attired in cardinal's robes with an elaborately decorated clasp at the collar and wearing a cardinal's biretta. The portrait is rendered in high relief with finely engraved hair and drapery details characteristic of early seventeenth-century Italian medallic art. The circumferential Latin legend reads FER CARD D G DVX M VI ET M F IIII, denoting his titles as Cardinal, Duke of Mantua VI and Marquis of Montferrat IV. The field is bounded by an inner circle with a beaded border at the rim. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | FER CARD D G DVX M VI ET M F IIII |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
Ferdinando Gonzaga ruled Mantua from 1612 having abandoned a Cardinal's hat — he renounced holy orders upon the death of his brother Francesco, married, and took the duchy. The transition from ecclesiastic to secular prince was politically fraught, requiring papal dispensation and reshaping Mantua's diplomatic alliances with both Rome and the Habsburgs simultaneously.
The 4 Doppie denomination placed this squarely among prestige presentation issues, the kind circulated at courts rather than markets. Mantua's mint output under Ferdinando remained modest by ducal standards, and gold multiples of this weight are genuinely scarce in any condition.