In this week's preview for the January New York International Auction we feature an astounding Italian gold rarity. Hailing from Genoa, a historically important city on theItalian Riviera, this spectacular coin is from the 'Biennial Doges' period of governance. The first doges of Genoa were not restrained by term limits, but rather by theentrenched oligarchy of merchant families. In 1528 the Doge drafted a new constitution embedding Genoa as a satellite of the Spanish empire and establishing two year term limits.This union led to a revitalization of Genoa thanks to its maritime explorers, including Christopher Columbus.

Genoa obtained the right to mint its own coinage in 1138 from the elected "Rex Romanorum" (King of the Romans) King Conrad III. He was slated to become the next HolyRoman Emperor though he never achieved this position. As the issuing authority, Conrad's titles appear on the Genoese coinage, even five centuries later when this piece wasstruck. The obverse design displays a castle gate (also known as a door in the city's walls) flanked by six-pointed stars, with the date of 1600 just below and the anonymoustitle for the current Doge: "Duke and Governor of the Genoese Republic."

The gate or door design is a callback to the Latin word for the city, which also means "door." The reverse design features the aforementioned titles of King Conradaround a large flat-ended cross (cross license or patent) with six-pointed stars in the angles. This massive gold piece is heavier than the two examples of the denomination thatare listed in Corpus Nummorum Italicorum, Vol. III, Liguria, Isole de Corsica, indicating that no identical specimen was in the definitive Royal Collection of King VittorioEmanuele III when the volume was published in 1912.

To read the complete article, see:
The Stack's Bowers Official Auction of the January 2019 NYINC to Feature Genoese 5 Doppie Dated1600 (https://www.stacksbowers.com/News/Pages/Blogs.aspx?ArticleID=3193)