W. C a r e w H a z l i t t Coinage of the European Continent

Descriptive Outline of the Coinages of Europe 443
his later currency instead of the very preferable horseman in
the Greek taste on the piece shown herewith.
The dukedom of Ferrara merged in that of Modena and
Reggio under Alfonso III. in 1628, and there is a coinage of
the latter united honours down to 1796. The
e"a and more ancient denominations employed here were
Re
io
the grosso, soldo, grossetto, quattrino, bolognino,
and 4 bolognini^testone, with the ^ and ^, the scudo di oro, its
moiety and multiples, and the ungaro} The later princes
of this house, who assembled at Modena an extensive and
valuable collection of works of art, are styled on their money
Dukes of Modena, Reggio, Mirandola, etc. The old connection
with Ferrara is recollected on a piece of 80 sesini of
Raynaldo I., 1728, where on the reverse we meet with the
figure of St. Contardus and Contardvs CEstensis Protector
while on a similar coin
,
of 1727 occurs Mvtin Prot
Perhaps the former was current in the Ferrarese.
The numismatic series opens with billon quattrini of a republican
or autonomous type, assignable to the fourteenth and
fifteenth centuries, with 6\ Passid. Mirandvl, and
Mirandola.
.
on reverse Vestali Pi. and the sacred fire. Between
this epoch and the next vestige of a local currency there is a
long and obscure interval and it is evident that we have
;
still to learn much touching the Mirandolese coinage of the
second moiety of the fifteenth century. Gian Francesco I.
Pico, Signore of Mirandola, 1499-1533,
of whose life and
literary remains Sir Thomas More was the writer and editor,
is the first with whom are associable any coins of a seigniorial
cast ;
and the earliest extant concession belongs to this reign
(1515), although the character of his money might have
encouraged us to conclude that his predecessors enjoyed a
similar right. Of this eminent man we know
1. A double zecchino with I.F. Picvs Mirand. D.C.C. and portrait
with berretta to left. Reverse, Amoris Miracvlvm.
2. A testone in silver.
3. A billon quattrino, reading on obverse lo. Fr. Pi. Miran. D Co.,
with portrait to left, and on reverse Om-ni-no in three lines
in the field.
1
See Catalogue of Mints, v. "Modena."