Florence

Ferdinando II de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 1621-1670

MIR 292/6; DAV-4202, PCGS-graded AU-55

Obverse depicts bust with ruff collar right. On the reverse has St. John standing. Well detailed in the portrait and only slightly off center.

Ferdinando II, despite his long, (49 year), rule, presided over the precipitous decline of Florence. The treasury was empty, and barter trade proliferated in the city markets. Plague had lowered the population of the Duchy down to 730,000, the streets were lined with grass, and the buildings in Pisa were collapsing.