Piastre of Cosimo III Firenze 1684

Description

Coat of arms of the Grand Duke of Tuscany
The "augmented coat of arms of the Medici,
Or, five balls in orle gules,was designed with
a larger ball incorporating of
the arms of France
-
three golden
lilies
which right was granted by
Louis XI
in 1465 in return for the assistance provided
by Florence during the dangerous rebellion of the French nobility
a
s a consequence of this grand concession by the
powerful sovereign the ball atop the Medici shield became blue with the fleur-de-lis inscribed in it.
The
ancient Romans
used similar insignias on their shields, but these identified military units rather than individuals and
during the first crusade such was
used to distinguish rang and protocol of the various troops.
By the 13th Century Coat of Arms had spread beyond their initial battlefield use to become a kind of flag or logo for
families in the higher social classes of
Europe, inherited from one generation to the next. Exactly who had a right to use
arms, by law or social convention, varied to some degree between countries
but basically it was a right only granted to
the aristocracy
A
coat of arms
is a unique
heraldic
design on an
escutcheon
(i.e.
shield
),
surcoat
, or
tabard
. A surcoat, and subsequently
a
coat of arms
was used by medieval
knights
to cover, protect, and identify the wearer. Thus these are sometimes termed
coat armory
Coinage of Florence and Tuscany
From A. D. 1189 to 1532 the coinage of Florence was autonmous. This coinage consisted of only the denaro until in the
thirteenth century, when the larger silver
grosso was added; and at about the same time (1252), Florence revived the
coinage of
gold, a metal which had not been coined in western Europe since the latter
part of the eighth century, and
struck the florin or fiorino d'oro. The financial and
commercial importance of Florence in Europe secured general
acceptance of the
new gold
coin; it was imitated at about 80 mints. The system of the florin, grosso,
and denaro, was
continued by the Medici as hereditary Gonfalonieri of the city.
The first duke of Tuscany, which included Florence, Alessandro de' Medici, intro
duced a silver coin still larger than
the grosso, called a testone, because it bore a
por
trait of the duke. This coin is said to have been engraved by Benvenuto
Cellini
(No. 99). The silver scudo (dollar size) was introduced in the reign of Cosimo I.
de' Medici, becoming known as
the francescone in reign of Francis II (1737-1765).
Tallero
Tallero, is the Italian thaler. It first appeared at Florence in 1570 under Cosmo I. De' Medici. Some of the earlier pieces and
their divisions have interesting portraits and
reverses.
Coins were minted with the name of several pre-unitary states. Tra questi i
duchi di Savoia
, la
repubblica di Ragusa
e il
granducato di Toscana
. Among these are the
dukes of Savoy
, the
Republic of Ragusa
and the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany
.
Tolerate
Tolerate
(tallero, tollore, tolloro, Thaler) is the name commonly used in
Tuscany
to indicate the
shield
coined by Grand
Duke
Ferdinand I
and his successors to use in trade
with the
East
.
The Medici family traded wool, silk and other luxury items from Asia; monopolized the alum trade (a fixative for dye);
precious metals needed to pay
spices
,
porcelain
and
silk
and other exotic goods from '
India
,
Indonesia
and other regions
of the '
Far East
.
The first Duke of Florence, Alessandro de' Medici (1533-36), used his portrait on the obverse and with John the Baptist
on the reverse of the coinage he had struck.
Ferdinand I struck copious coins and between 1587 and 1606 the Grand Duke appears to have had at least four coinages,
of which there are many sub-varieties. The first and
second (1587) exhibit him in his cardinal's dress and hat ; the third
(1596) omits the title in legend and alters the costume. The last (1601 -6) presents a crowned bust in armour
to right,
and Ferdinandvs " Med " Mag " Etr " Dvx " III "
Pisa seems to have been the usual mint; with Pisa forming part of the reverses’ legend.
The reverse shows a shield,
resting on a floriated cross which often served as substitute
for John the Baptist .
Florence M
int
.
It is said that although these Tallero coins suggest that they were minted in Pisa by incorporates Pisa in its legend that
in fact that they
were struck at the Florence mint.
Regardless it would seem that all the mints in Tusany worked on
commissions and minted or produced coins for citizens
from gold or silver brought to it usually in the form of rods,
ingots or foreign coins.
The mint acted as a monopoly as regards issues and a monopsony in regards to the withdrawal from circulation of foreign
coins. It was run for profit with the Duke who was deemed as the mint master receiving between two- thirds and three
quarters of the profit with the balance going to the manager.
This profit was determined by crediting those that brought metal to the mint with a sum inferior to what the mint itself
made from the metal it received.
However because the mints had the duel positions of a monopoly as well as a monopsony
it bought the foreign coins that
people were forced to relinquish because they had been declared prohibited to use at greatly
reduced prices and then rather
than melting them down to recoin again – sold them to merchants on the stipulation that they
used them outside the State
of Tuscany.
This practice was not only unorthodox but boarded on being illicit however the grant dukes at the time because they profited
turned a blind eye.
Pisa mint.
The old Pisa Mint was located inside the city wall,
near the
San Zeno
Gate
The
Province of Pisa
is located in central-western Tuscany,
covering a stretch of coastline, wide plains and rolling hills that include the
Colline Metallifere
to the South.
Pisa first belonged to the Longobard kingdom and later to the Carolingian empire. Already an important naval base in the
Roman era, from the 11th century Pisa intensified
its Mediterranean trade, with numerous victories of its fleet over Muslim
cities and ships.
The Mediaeval Era coincided with the height of its economic, political and artistic growth, to which the urban planning of
the old centre bears witness by its many religious and
civic buildings, its squares, its typical narrow alleys that run
perpendicular to the River Arno, the great trade route that for centuries represented the economic heart of the city.
The city walls, whose construction began around 1154-1155, were completed in the mid-14th century and today represent
an important part of the architectural heritage.
In 1406 Pisa was conquered for the first time by Florence, thus beginning a long period of profound crisis that ended only
with the political ascent of the Medici nobles. From the
second half of the 16th century there was a recovery characterized
by the development of the University, founded on the
orders of Lorenzo II Magnifico at the end of the 15th
century.
Cosimo I de' Medici and his successors renovated the aspect of the squares and churches, rendering Pisa the second capital
of Tuscany, until its annexation to the Kingdom of Italy
in 1861.
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because grading can vary depending on many factors such as tone colour strike blemishes and overall combination of all
the before mentioned even between professional graders so please make your own examination from the photos so as to
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