Sale: Triton IX, Lot: 1934. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 January 2006.  Sold For $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Kingdom of Naples. Ferdinand I (Ferrante). 1458-1494. AR Coronato (3.93 g, 8h). Naples mint; Giancarlo Tramontano, mintmaster. Struck 1488-1494. FERRANDVS D G RE SICILIE HIE (double annulet stops), crowned and draped bust right; T behind bust and rosette on shoulder / IVSTA° TVE NDA° (shield)°, St. Michael, nimbate, standing facing, holding lance with banner and shield, spearing dragon underfoot. Pannuti 17; Crusafont 657E; cf. CNI XIX p. 144, 541; cf. MEC 14, 1003; Biaggi 1674. EF, bold strike with a choice deep patina. ($300)

Ferdinand, the illegitimate son of Alfonso the Magnanimous of Aragon, was installed as king of Naples upon his father's death in 1458, having resided in Italy for the previous twenty years. Although the coinage accords him the title of King of Sicily (and Jerusalem), Alphonso's younger brother John held Aragon, Sardinia and Sicily. Ferdinand I, called Ferrante to distinguish him from Ferdinand the Catholic, was thoroughly Italian in his outlook, patronizing the arts and centers of learning, while ruling with utter ruthlessness. His coronato coll'angelo, with its striking image of the Lord's justice, marks the suppression of the "Conspiracy of the Barons" (1485-1487), a revolt by local Italian nobles upset by the growing power of the Neopolitan king. Ferrante had promised pardons to those nobles who surrendered, but after the end of the rebellion he imprisoned and exÉcuted the leaders of the uprising. His faithlessness earned Ferrante a blackened reputation for cruelty and betrayal.