Lot 726
Italian States -- Milan. Gold Doppia, 1578. Gnecchi-123, 10; Crippa-4/A; Fr. 716. 6.60 grams. Philip II, of Spain, 1554-1598. Radiate, cuirassed and draped bust right, 1578 in exergue. Reverse: Quartered shield of arms, crowned and plumed. Faint doubling on obverse (trivial compared to that on most known examples), otherwise an exceptional strike for issue. Lustrous with beautiful color. Rare in this excellent state of preservation. NGC graded MS-64.
Philip came to the Spanish throne upon the abdication of his father, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, in 1556. He was ruler of Naples and Sicily, Franche-Comte, the Low Countries and the Duchy of Milan. During his reign, vast riches continued to pour in unabated from the New World but hostilities with England and the diversion of money by bankers in Antwerp, Augsburg and Milan, who were funding Spain's wars, and then by bankers in Genoa and Milan, stimulated those economies but finally bankrupted Spain in 1596, and after Philip's death Spain entered a long period of decadence, moving from center stage on the world's theater to a back row. This marvelous coin of the Renaissance issues from perhaps its most glorious moment in history.
Estimated Value $3,000 - 3,500.
Illustrated in Money of The World, coin 83.
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| Realized $3,795 |
