1 Scudo Italy Silver Odoardo I Farnese

1628, Piacenza (Duchy), Odoardo I Farnese. Scarce Silver Scudo Coin

State: Piacenza


Mint Year: 1628

Denomination: Scudo

Mint Official: Luca Xell (L-X)

Reference: Davenport 4128, KM-16 ($1450 in XF!)

Ruler: Odoardo I Farnese (as Duke of Parma & Piacenca)

Diameter: 41mm

Weight: 27.5gm

Obverse: Armored and draped profile bust of Odoardo I Farnese in high ruff collar right. Monster-face inside shoulder piece and a winged angel´s face on breast plate. A seldom encountered privy mark (two dots) at 12 o’clock below bust.

Legend: . ODOARDVS . FAR : PLA : ET (ligate) . PAR : DVX . V ..

Reverse: Saint Antonius of Piacenza as a infantry soldier to loeft, holding a banner with his right hand. Date (1628) in exergue, flanked by mint official´s intials (L-X). A single dot (privy mark) at 12 o’clock.

Legend: . S : ANTONINVS - . M : PROT : PLAC .

Exergue: * L . 1628 . X *

Saint Antoninus of Piacenza (or Placentia) (died 303 AD) is a patron saint of Piacenza in Italy. He is venerated as a saint and martyr in the Roman Catholic Church, with a feast day of 30 September. The saint was said to have been martyred at Piacenza or Travo, in the 303 AD Diocletianic Persecution. He appears in Victricius' De Laude Sanctorum of the same century, and the somewhat later Martyrologium Hieronymianum. Sabinus of Piacenza established his sanctuary, following a rediscovery of the relics. A later tradition made him a member of the legendary Theban Legion. Piacenza’s Basilica di Sant’Antonino bears his name.

The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (Italian: Ducato di Parma e Piacenza, Latin: Ducatus Parmae et Placentiae), was an Italian state created in 1545 and located in northern Italy, in the current region of Emilia-Romagna.

Originally a realm of the Farnese family after Pope Paul III made it a hereditary duchy for his son, Pier Luigi Farnese, it was ruled by the dynasty until 1731, when the last duke, Antonio Farnese, died without direct heirs.

It was invaded by Napoleon and annexed by France, having its sovereignty restored in 1814 after Napoleon’s defeat. Napoleon’s wife, Marie Louise (Maria Luigia), then ruled as its duchess until her death. Parma was restored to Bourbon rule in 1847, and in 1859, the duchy was formally abolished as it was integrated into the new Italian state.

Odoardo Farnese (28 April 1612 – 11 September 1646), also known as Odoardo I Farnese to distinguish him from his grandson Odoardo II Farnese, was Duke of Parma, Piacenza and Castro from 1622 to 1646.

Odoardo was the eldest legitimate son of Ranuccio I Farnese and Margherita Aldobrandini. After Ranuccio’s natural son and his potential rival, Ottavio, was relegated in a prison, he reigned initially under the regency of his uncle Odoardo Farnese and, after the latter’s death, of his mother, Margherita Aldobrandini.

He came of age in 1628 and in the same year he married Margherita de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo II de' Medici’s daughter. His first notable act as Duke was an alliance with France in 1633, a move designed to counter Spanish predominance in northern Italy and support his territorial ambitions. He also asked for loans to improve the army, but his first campaigns were ineffective: Piacenza was occupied by the Spanish troops, and his army was defeated by Francesco I d’Este. Spanish troops overran the duchy and devastated the countryside, but did not attempt to lay siege to the cities. In the absence of French assistance, Odoardo was convinced by Pope Urban VIII to sign a treaty of peace with Spain in 1637.

His aggressive rule of Castro, a Farnese fief in the Papal States north of Rome, who the Barberini (Pope Urban’s family) were eager to acquire, caused Odoardo to be excommunicated in 1641. Instead of reconciliation, he sought alliances with Venice, Florence and the Duchy of Modena, and invaded northern Lazio with 7,000 troops. His army was composed mostly of cavalry, and were unable to recover Castro by siege. Although the Farnese fleet was destroyed and the Duke often proved recalcitrant, in the peace of 1644, the city of Castro was returned to him and Odoardo was reconciled with the Roman Catholic Church and readmitted to the Sacraments.

Odoardo died suddenly in Piacenza, his favorite residence, on 11 September 1646.