Grossetto of 2 Soldi - Ercole I Unicorn

Ercole I came to power in Ferrara in 1471 only after suppressing a coup attempt by his nephew Niccolò, a dynastic crisis that nearly ended Este rule entirely. The unicorn device he adopted — and placed on this coin — was a personal impresa, a Renaissance practice of encoding princely virtue and identity into imagery with deliberate, literate intent. Ferrara under Ercole became one of the most sophisticated courts in Italy: Ariosto was writing there, and the monetary output of the Este mint reflected that self-conscious grandeur.

The CNI records at least four die pairings for this type across its thirty-four year emission window.