Hello again everyone, I know there's been a long time since I last posted Hope you are all well and thriving. Here is something one does not see often, at least outside Southern Italy, and even there not that often at all. This piece was sold recently by a German auction house: ALFONSO d'ARAGONA (de TRASTAMARA), King of ARAGON, MAJORCA, VALENCIA, SICILY, CORSICA, SARDINIA, Count of BARCELONA, ROUSSILLON, CERDAGNE (1416-1458), King of NAPLES (1442-1458), as ALFONSO I "Il Magnanimo", King of NAPLES and SICILY. AE15mm 0.6g copper denaro primo tipo (stemma palato I e IV), Naples mint cca. 1442-1458. OBV: + ALFONSV . D : G : REX; facing crowned bust REV: SICILIE(?) : CITR : VLTR: Aragonese coat of arms REF: cf. Biaggi 1665, cf. MIR 59, CNI n°252 P/R n° 10 d'Andrea/Andreani n°27 Rare. This is a minor variation of the regular MIR 59, with ALFONSV instead of ALFONSVS and : between the words in the legends instead of the pellets. The issue can be viewed and the type found here Alfonso was a Renaissance man and knight, being adopted into the late Angevin ruling family of Naples in cca. 1422, where he became king after his conquest of Naples in 1442 from Renato d'Angio/Rene d'Anjou. He was also a member of the Order of the Dragon, an anti-Ottoman alliance of Western, Central and Eastern-European lords and barons which also included Vlad II Dracul and, after 1465/70, Vlad III Dracula. He was also in a close relationship -- as inheritor of eastern Angevin interests -- with Georgios "Skanderbeg" Kastriotis of Albania.
Welcome back. A nice coin of a great 15th century warrior king, and brilliant tactician. No fat or lazy king here, rather an accomplished warrior who was not afraid to defy the will of the Pope and church, bribe officials, raise armies, and get everything he set out to accomplish.
If someone wants to add him to his/hers collection, the denarii minted for him in Sicily are a bit more readily available. An example from CNG: https://cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=250289
Nice little coin @seth77, and your write-up was very enjoyable too. My knowledge of the history of Naples and Aragon is limited to the Sicilian Vespers, though I would like to learn more. The same is true for Skanderbeg and some of his anti-Ottoman contemporaries of Eastern Europe.
The passing of Naples from the Angevins to the Aragonese Crown would start a series of events that would eventually lead to the Barons Revolt (Congiura dei Baroni) between 1459 and 1464. Mostly the more centralized approach to power of the Aragonese was seen by many local lords as undermining their rights and prospects and basically breaking from the Neapolitan feudal tradition. I've written a paper about an issue minted during this revolt and why it is important, you can access it here. And thank you for your warm welcome
Thank you! I will try to keep a somewhat steady presence and show you interesting late-ancient and medieval stuff, mostly because I see this forum needs more interest in medieval numismatics. Since I'm not actively collecting, what I'll show comes from auction houses and or European collections, hopefully to stir up some interest in the period
I went looking for a 15th century European coin in my collection, and didn't find one. Have several 14th and 16th century, but nothing from this time period. Added to the list.
Always glad to see you posting @seth77 ! I agree this forum could use more medieval posts and I applaud and look forward to your efforts.
Thank you @chrsmat71 : the 15th century marks the apex of the Kingdom of Hungary, so if you want a distinctive 15th century European coin you might want to try buying a nice denar of Sigismund of Luxembourg or Matthias Corvinus. Or rather, if you are patient and have a penchant for something more niche, a denar of the Interregnum of 1444-1446 or the Governorship of Janos Hunyadi between 1446 and 1453. Good luck!
Glad to see you back @seth77 . I have added several medieval coins to my collection and always want to read more about them.
For those who are used to neat Latin lettering and might find it hard to decipher 15th century letters, here is how you read the legends. The obverse starts up at the cross and goes clockwise. The reverse starts at about 7 o'clock and goes clockwise also:
Matthias Corvinus and John Hunyadi are two of the more fascinating men of the 15th century, and son and father no less. Taking inspiration from the Hussites they started to introduce gunpowder weapons into their armies. The Black Army of Hungary was one of the first standing professional armies in Europe, maybe the first. Sadly English language sources are lacking. I've always wanted to obtain coins for each of them. @seth77 do you happen to have any coins you could post for inspiration? I've been kicking around the idea of starting an anti-Ottoman collection focusing on the men of the 14th-17th centuries that fought the Ottomans. Those two would be high on the list.
I don't personally have any of their coins, but at least Matthias is readily available in many places. About Janos Hunyadi I think I can help you by adding the pages with the drawings of his coins from Unger Emil's Magyar eremhatarozo of 1976: You have bonus the 2 Interregna also depicted to help you identify the coins easier. Since many dealers don't really bother with Hungarian denarii, the chances for you to find what you are looking for in auctions or such is really not so bad. Good luck!
Last summer a similar specimen appeared and was sold by Artemide Aste. It is in a far superior condition which attracted enough interest from collectors to sell for around 500$ (before the premium). You can see the auction page here: https://www.numisbids.com/n.php?p=lot&sid=2011&lot=496
