Estimated price: CHF 30'000.-Umayyads. Solidus imitating Byzantine solidi, early 660s AD.NUMISMATICA GENEVENSIS SA - AUCTIONS 19, 20 & 21
(GENEVA 9-10 December 2024)
1
Estimated price: CHF 750'000.-Roman Republic. Brutus. Aureus, 43-42 BC.
From the Mazzini Collection.
NUMISMATICA GENEVENSIS SA - AUCTIONS 19, 20 & 21
(GENEVA 9-10 December 2024)
1032
Estimated price: CHF 50'000.-Roman Empire. Theodosius II, 402-450.
Solidus 416 or 418, Constantinople.
NUMISMATICA GENEVENSIS SA - AUCTIONS 19, 20 & 21
(GENEVA 9-10 December 2024)
1054
Estimated price: CHF 200'000.-Holy Roman Empire. Leopold I, 1657-1705.
10 Ducats 1671 IGW, Graz. NGC MS64 (Top pop).
NUMISMATICA GENEVENSIS SA - AUCTIONS 19, 20 & 21
(GENEVA 9-10 December 2024)
1112
Estimated price: CHF 2'000.-China. Anhwei Province. 50 Cents year 24 (1898).
NGC MS63+
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1225
Estimated price: CHF 200'000.-Nuremberg. 10 Ducats 1694. NGC MS65 PL (Top pop).NUMISMATICA GENEVENSIS SA - AUCTIONS 19, 20 & 21
(GENEVA 9-10 December 2024)
1479
Estimated price: CHF 5'000.-Hong Kong. Victoria, 1837-1901. PROOF 1/2 Dollar 1866.
NGC PF64.
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(GENEVA 9-10 December 2024)
1638
Estimated price: CHF 400'000.-Pamplona. Felipe IV, 1621-1665. 8 Escudos 1652.
From the Huntington Collection. Unique.
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1679
Estimated price: CHF 150'000.-Great Britain. Anne, 1702-1714. 5 Guineas 1703 VIGO.NUMISMATICA GENEVENSIS SA - AUCTIONS 19, 20 & 21
(GENEVA 9-10 December 2024)
2035
Estimated price: CHF 300'000.-Great Britain. George III, 1760-1820. PATTERN PROOF
5 Guineas 1777. NGC PF64 CAMEO (Top pop).
NUMISMATICA GENEVENSIS SA - AUCTIONS 19, 20 & 21
(GENEVA 9-10 December 2024)
2058
all News

New Permanent Coin Exhibition at the Ducal Palace of Mantua

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and the Ducal Palace of Mantua have reached an important agreement to enhance the valuable Magnaguti and Casero numismatic collection owned by the bank. This collection, which previously belonged to the former Banca Agricola Mantovana, will be on long-term display in the museum spaces of the Ducal Palace, thanks to a loan agreement already verified and approved by the Regional Committee for Cultural Heritage under the supervision of the Regional Secretariat of Lombardy. By virtue of this agreement, the director of the Ducal Palace has decided to permanently exhibit these coins in three rooms of the palace, along the visit route.

Content

The Collection

The collection, consisting of as many as 2,184 pieces, is the most comprehensive collection of coins and medals from Mantua and the Gonzaga family. The original nucleus of the collection was formed in 1986 with the acquisition of the collection of notary Ermanno Casero of Milan, later enriched in 1993 with the prestigious collection of Count Alessandro Magnaguti (1887-1966), a learned Mantuan nobleman. Magnaguti, over almost half a century, built up an important collection of Gonzaga coins and medals, declared “of exceptional artistic and historical interest” by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and described in volumes VII, VIII and IX of the work “Ex Nummis Historia.”

Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, 1432-1444. Grosso, silver. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Gianfrancesco Gonzaga, 1432-1444. Grosso, silver. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Ludovico II Gonzaga, 1444-1478. Ducato, gold. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Ludovico II Gonzaga, 1444-1478. Ducato, gold. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

This extraordinary collection, second only to the one formed by the King of Italy Vittorio Emanuele III and preserved in Palazzo Massimo in Rome, has been the subject of a complex protection operation by the Superintendency of Mantua, which renewed the declaration of exceptional importance.

Francesco II Gonzaga, 1484-1519. Testone, silver. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Francesco II Gonzaga, 1484-1519. Testone, silver. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Federico II Gonzaga, 1519-1540. Testone leggero, silver. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Federico II Gonzaga, 1519-1540. Testone leggero, silver. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

The Exhibition Project

The exhibition project, conceived by Banca MPS and Palazzo Ducale with the support of the Fondazione Banca Agricola Mantovana, was entrusted to the numismatist Massimo Rossi. It provides a significant portion of the collection for the exhibition, with a rotation over time of the other materials. The space chosen to house the collection is the Rustica, the mansion built in 1539-1540 by Giulio Romano and decorated internally with paintings coordinated by Giovan Battista Bertani. Consolidation work on plaster and stucco, carried out by the Carena and Ragazzoni firm of Cremona in the Exhibition Hall (or Loggia dei Frutti), has been completed. The room features in the paintings of the large barrel vault a series of stories telling the legendary and historical foundation of the city of Mantua, parallel to the historical narrative offered by the Gonzaga coins and medals.

Ferdinando Gonzaga, 1612-1626. 12 Scudi 1613, gold. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Ferdinando Gonzaga, 1612-1626. 12 Scudi 1613, gold. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Vincenzo II Gonzaga, 1626-1627. Ducatone 1627, silver. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Vincenzo II Gonzaga, 1626-1627. Ducatone 1627, silver. Image: Collezione Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

The Inauguration

The inauguration of this new segment of the Ducal Palace exhibition itinerary was held on Friday, September 13, 2024. An important appointment for all numismatic and history enthusiasts, who were able to admire a fundamental piece of Mantua’s cultural heritage in an exceptional venue.

The coin exhibition is on display in the historic rooms of the Ducal Palace of Mantua

The coin exhibition is on display in the historic rooms of the Ducal Palace of Mantua

“We will thus bring back to the attention of the public,” said Palazzo Ducale director Stefano L’Occaso, “a wonderful collection, through a modern and lively narrative, which will display the coins not only as ’works of art’ (and they are), but also as tools for a historical narrative.”

The exhibition was opened this September.

The exhibition was opened this September.

Massimo Rossi stated during the opening presentation: “The exhibition presents coins, tokens and medals made from the 12th to the 19th century, so 7 centuries of history. More than 40 different coin-issuing authorities are represented, divided into 12 different mints. Three related to the dominant branch of Mantua: Mantua, Casale in Monferrato and Charleville in France and 8 mints related to the cadet branches of the Gonzaga, namely the mints of Bozzolo, Castiglione delle Stiviere, Guastalla, Novellara, Sabbioneta, San Martino dall’Argine and Solferino. There is no doubt that these coins have returned to their place of origin, just look at how many enterprises reproduced on coins are frescoed in this palace”. The exhibition also features dies, punches, tariffs and other materials from loans from other museums.

This video of the opening of the exhibition gives you additional insight into the exhibition rooms:

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