Milan

Louis XII of France, Duke of Milan 1499-1512

Fr-704; MIR 234/1; Crippa 1C (this coin); Bernareggi 109 var, PCGS-graded MS-62+

Very rare; extraordinarily choice with a wonderful portrait in the Renaissance style.

This French king claimed Milan during the Great Italian War of 1499-1504, but his failure to hold Naples earned him criticism in Machiavelli’s treatise on political warriors, The Prince, and he was forced to give up his Italian ambitions.