Republic of Venice, Silvestro Valier, Ducatone 10 Zecchini
1694-1700 - Pedigree
Sold
Saint Mark, left, seated right on a throne, raising his hand to bless the doge kneeling before him and receiving a banner surmounted by a cross.
Winged and nimbed lion on the left, paw resting on the open Gospels, castle above; three rosettes in exergue.
A magnificent and impressive coin of the highest rarity. The only example known. The pedigree of this coin goes back to the prestigious collection of the king of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele III (Victor Emmanuel III). His huge collection, constituted by his predecessors and himself was composed of more than 110 000 Italian coins. The main part of his collection was gifted at the Italian State by the king before his departure in exile in 1946, and the majority of those coins entered the collection of the Museo Nazionale Romano in November 1968. It explains why only a very few coins of the vast king Vittorio Emanuele collection was put up on sale. The coin of 10 Zecchini is accompanied by a letter dated from 27th of October 1959, written by the Curator of the Museo Bottacin of Padua. The letter attests the pedigree and the historical background of the coin, and confirms its sale from the collection of the Museum, to Gino de Bona, a notable issued of a great family of Dubrovnik. This particular coin of 10 Zecchini of Silvestro Valier is listed and described on Corpus Nummorum Italicorum (CNI) number 21, with the precision of its provenance (Royal collection). Vittorio Emanuele III has actively contributed with coins of his own collection to the Corpus.
·S·M·V·SILV·VALERIO·DVX·V // *F·T* [separator in the exergue in shape of rosette]
DVCATVS·VENETVS
34.72 gr
Gold
Although nowadays gold enjoys a reputation as the king of precious metals, that was not always the case. For example, in Ancient Greece, Corinthian bronze was widely considered to be superior. However, over the course of time, it has established itself as the prince of money, even though it frequently vies with silver for the top spot as the standard.
Nevertheless, there are other metals which appear to be even more precious than this duo, take for example rhodium and platinum. That is certain. Yet, if the ore is not as available, how can money be produced in sufficient quantities? It is therefore a matter of striking a subtle balance between rarity and availability.
But it gets better: gold is not only virtually unreactive, whatever the storage conditions (and trouser pockets are hardly the most precious of storage cases), but also malleable (coins and engravers appreciate that).
It thus represents the ideal mix for striking coins without delay – and we were not going to let it slip away!
The chemical symbol for gold is Au, which derives from its Latin name aurum. Its origins are probably extraterrestrial, effectively stardust released following a violent collision between two neutron stars. Not merely precious, but equally poetic…
The first gold coins were minted by the kings of Lydia, probably between the 8th and 6th century BC. Whereas nowadays the only gold coins minted are investment coins (bullion coins) or part of limited-edition series aimed at collectors, that was not always the case. And gold circulated extensively from hand to hand and from era to era, from the ancient gold deposits of the River Pactolus to the early years of the 20th century.
As a precious metal, in the same way as silver, gold is used for minting coins with intrinsic value, which is to say the value of which is constituted by the metal from which they are made. Even so, nowadays, the value to the collector frequently far exceeds that of the metal itself...
It should be noted that gold, which is naturally very malleable, is frequently supplemented with small amounts of other metals to render it harder.
The millesimal fineness (or alloy) of a coin indicates the exact proportion (in parts per thousand) of gold included in the composition. We thus speak, for example, of 999‰ gold or 999 parts of gold per 1 part of other metals. This measure is important for investment coins such as bullion. In France, it was expressed in carats until 1995.
An “AU(55-58)” quality
As in numismatics, it is important that the state of conservation of an item be carefully evaluated before it is offered to a discerning collector with a keen eye.
This initially obscure acronym comprising two words describing the state of conservation is explained clearly here:
About Uncirculated(55-58)
This means – more prosaically – that the coin has been in circulation but sufficiently little that its original beauty is preserved almost in its entirety. The wear is barely visible and any other defect can only be identified with a magnifying glass or a particularly keen eye. The number (55-58) indicates that between three quarters and almost all of the original luster remains.
