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 Ducats - Guglielmo IX Paleologo
| Issuer | March of Montferrat (Montferrat, Italian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1494-1518 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 4 Ducats |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Bearded draped bust of Guglielmo IX Paleologo in right profile, wearing a flat-brimmed barrette, rendered in high relief in the late-fifteenth-century Italian hammered style. The effigy occupies the central field, enclosed within an inner circle. The circumferential Latin legend reads GVLIELMVS MARCHIO XXIII, separated by small rosette stops, with the text distributed around the full periphery of the coin within a beaded border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | GVLIELMVS MARCHIO XXIII |
| 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 |
Guglielmo IX ruled Montferrat under persistent pressure from both France and Milan, his small march squeezed between powers that regarded it primarily as a military corridor. The 4-ducat multiple was not a circulation piece — it was struck for presentation, diplomacy, and the kind of conspicuous exchange between courts that smaller denominations could not perform. Montferrat's minting authority during this period was technically a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, and these heavy gold multiples implicitly asserted a sovereignty the march's geography constantly undermined.
Guglielmo died in 1518 without a male heir, triggering succession disputes that would eventually draw in the Gonzaga of Mantua.