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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;The Eidolon, post: 4584512, member: 102103&quot;]Day 96:&nbsp; I think I posted this 1798 Naples <a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces58853.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces58853.html" rel="nofollow">5 Tornesi</a>, so here&#039;s an 1801 Naples</p><p><a href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces27509.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces27509.html" rel="nofollow">6 Tornesi</a> to go with it.&nbsp; Both were issued under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_I_of_the_Two_Sicilies" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_I_of_the_Two_Sicilies" rel="nofollow">Ferdinand IV</a>, who ruled as King</p><p>of both Naples and Sicily.&nbsp; A lot happened between 1798 and 1801, though! </p><p>Ferdinand had to flee Naples in the face of the advancing French Revolutionary</p><p>army, which occupied the city to form the short-lived Parthenopean Republic.&nbsp; With</p><p>British help, Ferdinand retook the city a few months later.</p><p><br /></p><p>France conquered Naples again in 1806 after the Battle of Austerlitz, and Ferdinand</p><p>had to flee the city (again), this time to Sicily.&nbsp; After Napoleon&#039;s final defeat,</p><p>Ferdinand regained his throne (again), though the Kingdom was renamed as the</p><p>Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.&nbsp; Apparently, Ferdinand was an ineffective ruler, and the</p><p>real power behind the throne was his wife, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Carolina_of_Austria" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Carolina_of_Austria" rel="nofollow">Maria Carolina of Austria</a>.&nbsp; She was the</p><p>sister of the executed Marie Antoinette, and had a huge grudge against</p><p>Revolutionary France.&nbsp; Thus, she pushed her husband into a warlike foreign policy</p><p>against France.&nbsp; Allegedly, Napoleon claimed that she was &quot;the only man in the</p><p>Kingdom of Naples.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1135359[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1135360[/ATTACH]</p><p>Left:&nbsp; Naples, 5 Tornesi, 1798</p><p>Obverse:&nbsp; Neapolitan arms in a wreath</p><p>Reverse:&nbsp; T.5&nbsp; R. C&nbsp; 1798</p><p><br /></p><p>Right:&nbsp; Naples, 6 Tornesi, 1801</p><p>Obverse:&nbsp; FERDINAN.IV.SICIL.ET.HIE REX&nbsp; P</p><p>Reverse:&nbsp; TOR&nbsp; NESI&nbsp; A.&nbsp; 6&nbsp; P.&nbsp; 1801</p><p><br /></p><p>I don&#039;t know why they switched from a 5 to 6 tornesi denomination.&nbsp; (They were not</p><p>both made at the same time).&nbsp; Nor do I know why the 6 is so much bigger than the</p><p>5.&nbsp; That&#039;s way more than 6/5 the amount of copper.&nbsp; I suspect that there was</p><p>monetary uncertainty due to the wars, and hard money of gold and silver was</p><p>being hoarded.&nbsp; Perhaps the 6 tornesi having a copper content closer to its face</p><p>value was meant to induce the public to accept it in circulation.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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