Catalog
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| Issuer | Volterra, Bishopric of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1315-1317 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Grosso Agontano |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A circular Latin legend runs between the outer rim and an inner beaded circle, which encloses the central device. At the center of the field, a cross pattée is depicted with broad, splayed arms of equal length, characteristic of the Tuscan episcopal coinage of the early 14th century. The design is executed in low relief consistent with hammered billon production of the period. |
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| Mintage | ND (1315-1317) |
| Additional information |
Volterra's bishops held temporal coinage rights across several interrupted periods during the medieval commune era, and this issue dates to the episcopate of Ranieri Belforti, whose family dominated Volterran politics with enough force that the commune briefly lost autonomous control of the mint. The picciolo — the smallest fractional denomination in the Tuscan billon hierarchy — was the everyday workhorse of local markets, and examples from minor episcopal mints like this survive almost exclusively in worn, fragmentary condition due to heavy use relative to their negligible intrinsic value.