1 Denaro - Valenza 1447-1457

Weight

0.38 g

Diameter

14 mm

Thickness

NA

Material

Billon

Shape

Round (irregular)

Edge Type

Plain

Technique

Hammered

Front design

Cross with lilly ends. Latin legend around.

Back design

Bust of Saint Antonius or Georgius facing, in inner reeded circle, surrounded by legend.

Year of Minting

1447-1457

Ruler

NA

Mint location

NA

Mint mark

NA

Orientation

Variable alignment ↺

Inscriptions

Obverse: ✠ COMVNS · & LOCI VA · Reverse: ✠ SI · AN · & · GE · AST · TVTOR

Context

This mysterious coin first came to light in the Casargo hoard (c. 1890 in Lake Como district), and was attributed to Valenza by Ambrosoli in a 1901 paper in Rivista Italiana Numismatic a.   This attribution was then used in the Corpus Nummorun Italicorum, Vol. II (1911). Clearly it imitates the denaro struck by the Ambrosian Republic of 1447-1450 (see link), a time when Valenza had come under the authority of the duke of Savoy (Day, et al., MEC 12, p. 240).  By 1454, Valenza was again under the conntrol of Milan. Day et al. in MEC 12 point out that there is no documentary evidence for a medieval mint in Valenza, and that the few coins with known provenance came from the Lake Como area, over 150 km from Valenza.  They don't suggest a new attribution, but feel that the coins were contemporary counterfeits with an origin farther north.

Rarity

Ultra rare

Coin type

Standard circulation

In circulation

No

Demonetized

Yes

Marketplace listings

0