Sicily

Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies 1825-1830

Fr-862, KM296, PCGS-graded MS-63

Rare; excellent portrait and gold color, reverse slightly off center.

Francis I of the Two Sicilies was the nephew of the ill-fated Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, who perished during the French Revolution. On the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, his father returned to Naples and suppressed the Sicilian constitution, incorporating his two kingdoms into that of the Two Sicilies as of 1816; Francis assumed the title of duke of Calabria, then inherited the kingdom. Wisely, he left governing in the hands of favorites and police officials, and lived with his mistresses, surrounded by soldiers, ever in dread of assassination.