I'm usually interested in the numismatics of Southern Italy, but this small and rather boring-looking coin, from a collection in Rome, is rather interesting, although it comes from Northern Italy. Anyone interested in the Renaissance coinage of Italy care to try to identify this very small 12/13mm copper-alloy issue?
Sadly, no one was interested in identifying this little coin, which is a shame because it's from a realm with a very interesting and important history, despite its small dimensions and hardships that it came under by the 15th century. To give a hint - it was minted in the territory of a former great crusader dynasty by a baron with Greek-Constantinopolitan ancestry. Maybe this helps?
I have tried but with my lack of experience and references I'm totally stumped. Is the coin silver? It looks like I'm seeing text outside the ring of pellets on each side and it looks like it may have been 5 or 6 mm larger at one time. If you have made a positive ID my hat is off to you my friend.
I have known these types for some time now, as my interest in Italian Renaissance grew. You are right, there were supposed to be legends on both sides but most of these coins were rather carelessly minted, oftentimes on irregular flans. They can be identified by the shield which is assigned to the old crusader family and the very few letters to be discerned. As with any and all such small and rather insignificant coins (the references say they are minted in billon, but I rather suspect it's just copper), one might ask their economic function. I think they were used like the pougeoise or fractional deniers were used in the Crusader realms of Tripoli and Antioch, to provide small currency for menial local expenditures. They were used in a rather poor territory in northern Italy in the 15th century, so menial expenditures were likely the daily routine.
Based on your hints I believe this was minted in the margraviate of Montferrat, by one of the members of the cadet branch of the Palaeologus family. I'm not sure which ruler, but judging by style Giovanni III. I think the denomination is a bianchetto.
Excellent follow on the clues. It is a maglia di bianchetto but minted at Casale, a mint that was not opened until 1435, long after the reign of Giovanni III. So the ruler was rather Giovanni IV Paleologo, who ruled as marquis de Montferrat between 1445 and 1464.
Nice! I did do a bit of looking into this on my lunch break but unfortunately this coin is way out of my humble knowledge base and I had to give up and get back to work. It was still fun to search and try to figure it out. Thanks for the puzzle! Great coin btw!
If you don't have a starting point, these small medieval denominations are very difficult to figure out. On this one there's an IO visible at about 1 o'clock on the side with the cross - but is it a Jean, a Giovanni or a Jan? And without having at least a vague idea where it comes from, it's like searching for the needle in the haystack. The best indicator on this one is the small shield, with its distinctive shape though.
That was my problem. I had no idea where to begin and couldn't find an easy starting place for my search. Still, I really enjoyed the puzzle and hope you keep posting these coins. My medeival collecting interests are English and Anglo-Gallic so these puzzles are a fun way for me to expand out of my usual areas and learn about new coins.
I'm mainly interested in the Neapolitan 14 to 15th century, both regal and baronial numismatics, of which of particular interest is the Congiura dei Baroni of 1459-1463/4.
