Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 1829. Estimate $100.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Aquila. Giovanna II d’Angiò. as Queen of Naples, 1414-1435. AR Cella (0.98 g, 5h). (crown) · RЄGInA · IUHAnnA · (rosette stops), eagle standing facing, head left, with wings spread / S · PЄTRVS C, St. Peter seated facing, raising hand in benediction and holding cruciform scepter. CNI XVIII 65 var. (rev. legend); Biaggi 105. Near VF.

From the Leonard O. Greenfield Collection.

The final member of the senior Angevin line in Naples came to an end with Giovanna II, whose reign involved much rivalry to her crown. Upon the death of her brother, Ladislas, she became Queen of Naples, only to have her second husband, James II, the count of La Marche, force the title upon himself. After an uprising by the Neapolitan populace, James was driven back to France, leaving the crown once again to Giovanna. She later angered Pope Martin V, however, denying him economic aid to rebuild the papal army, resulting in the Pope’s naming of Louis III d’Anjou as king of Naples. Giovanna then called upon the support of Alfonso V de Aragon, promising that she would name him as her heir. As both sides experienced strained relations, Giovanna met with Louis, declared her arrangement with Alfonso null and void, and named Louis as her heir. Outliving her newly-named heir by a year, Giovanna named René I d’Anjou as her heir in 1434.