PHILIP II

The present coin was minted in 1556 and, following Filippo Argelati (De Monetis Italiae Variorum Illustrium Virorum Dissertationes, III), circulated at a value of 11 dineros, corresponding to a purity of 916.66 thousandths and a theoretical weight of 18.526 g. Carlo Crippa (Le Monete di Milano Durante la Dominazione Spagnola) argues that this coin belongs to the same series as the ducaton featuring the monarch with atlas bearing the world on the reverse. This coin identified by José Manuel Olivares (Acuñaciones a martillo de dominio Español) as the “Commemorative ducaton of the monarch’s proclamation in Milan” due to its reverse being identical to the proclamation medals of Philip II in other European mints, created by G. P. Poggini. This half-ducaton should therefore also be regarded as a proclamation coin. The workmanship of this issue is attributed to Leone Leoni, as the Arians depicted at the saint’s feet are identical to the titans on the reverse of the large escudos of Charles V from the same mint, works by the aforementioned artist. Since the publication of Crippa’s aforementioned work, there has been a prevailing—though mistaken—tendency to refer to these coins as half-escudos and to their multiples as escudos. This theory is incorrect, as it was based, according to Crippa, on the lack of documents predating Philip III that explicitly use the term "ducaton." However, José Manuel Olivares has since disproven this assumption, both in his previously cited work (op.cit.pp. 85–88) and in an earlier article published in the December 1999 issue of Gaceta Numismática. He demonstrates that a contemporary document issued by Laelius Iuditanus, secretary to the Ordinary Magistrate of Milan, clearly designates these large escudos of Philip II struck in Milan as ducatones. Other examples of this coin type are known, albeit of lesser rarity, sharing the same typology but lacking the rosette in the field, with a theoretical weight of 16.792 grams. It is, therefore, a distinct coin, struck later (in 1557) than the piece presented here, and of which an extremely rare variant is known, featuring the saint without the whip in his right hand.