Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 1830. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $425. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Aquila. Ferdinando I (Don Ferrante). as King of Naples, first reign, 1458-1485. AR Coronato (3.94 g, 1h). (trefoil) FERRANDVS : D : G : R (eagle) SICILIE : IER (double annulet stops), crowned and armored bust right; T to left / IVSTA · · (rosette) TVENDA (annulet stops), armored figure of the archangel Michael standing facing, head lowered slightly right, spearing dragon to lower right; T-(eagle) across field. Cf. CNI XVIII 12/18 (obv./rev.); Biaggi 117. Near EF, lightly toned, minor weakness.

From the Leonard O. Greenfield Collection.

The son of Alfonso V de Aragon and his mistress, Ferdinando was married to Isabella di Taranto in order to strengthen his legtimacy, though Pope Calixtus III declared the Argonese line extinct and the kingdom of Naples a fief of the church. With the help of Alessandro Sforza and Skanderbeg, he was able to reclaim his authority within the kingdom until a short-revolt of the nobility in 1485, supported in part by Pope Innocent VIII.