Italy, Reggio, Duchy. Ercole I d'Este, 1471-1505. Testone (Silver, 24mm, 3.87 g 11), struck from dies engraved by Giannantonio da Foligno, undated, but after 1502. HERCVLES.( leaf ).DVX.II.( leaf ). Armored bust of Ercole I to left, wearing berretto with a medallion on the side. Rev. .REGIVM..LEPIDI ( leaf ) Shield in the shape of a horse-head (testa di cavallo) bearing the arms of Reggio. Bellesia (Ferrara) p. 132, fig. 1. CNI IX, p. 661, 3. MIR 1261. RM 15 ( same dies ). Of the greatest rarity, only one or two other examples are known . Lightly struck, otherwise , nearly extremely fine.

From a Swiss collection.

This is a very curious coin, not only is it remarkably rare, its exact denomination is uncertain. Ravegnani-Morosini terms the coin he publishes (ex Finarte 1974) a “light testone” because that piece apparently weighs 2.62 g. Its value would have been the equivalent of 7 soldi and 3 denari of Reggio (or 6 soldi of Ferrara). However, at 3.87 g the weight of this example is much higher, the exact equivalent of one of Alfonso I’s testones from Reggio as RM 23 (cited weights run from 3.55 to 3.90 g). We have, therefore, two possibilities. The most likely seems to be that there was an initial issue of light weight testones struck c. 1502. These coins proved to be unpopular and they were replaced, a year or two later using the same dies, by testones on the local weight standard (equal to the half testones of Modena struck at roughly the same time). A second possibility might be that the quality control at Reggio was so poor that great weight differences in its output were tolerated.