OK, I guess anyone can answer I just finished reading Gilboy's book today. Great stuff! The appendix was worth the pricetag alone. Figure 2-8 on page 12 has me absolutely fixed. What a beautiful reverse! The caption claims it is a Ducato - a Naples piece minted under the authority of Charles II in 1684. I can't find this piece in my Krause guide for Spain. Are you familiar with this piece? Is it rare?
Rick,if it is from Naples,it would not be listed under Spain.Naples is in Italy.Have you tried looking there? Aidan.
I know Naples is in Italy, but the coin was minted under spanish authority - so I thought it would be a spanish empire piece. I am guessing that you're right, it's an Italian piece, but I don't have a catalog for that region and that time.
The ducato is a true beauty It was design struck for only one year and not that easy to find. I almost bought one once for my ducat collection, but backed away because I didn't want to get pulled in yet another direction. Who knows, I may change my mind some day You can find the coin in the 17th century Krause listed under Italian States, Naples & Sicily. But it is not assigned a Krause number. Instead it is assigned a Davenport number - #4045. They were struck again with different designs in 1689 & 1693 - all 3 designs are gorgeous, but the first is my favorite. All of them can be rather pricey in XF or better condition. I haven't mentioned it yet Rick, but Davenport is another whole series of books that you will undoubtably wish to purchase. He is considered one of the authorities on European silver coinage. But man he's got a lot of books - you'll want to pick and choose to a degree.
looks like there's a few listings on ebay. LARGE SIZE SILVER COINS OF THE WORLD 16TH-19TH CENTURY That would be a good purchase.
