PIERREALE: COIN OF SICILY
1 pierreale, 1355-1377: Kingdom of Sicily (Italy)
Ruler: Frederick IV the Simple (Italian "Federico") — King of Sicily from 1355 to 1377. The documents of his era call him the "infante Frederick, ruler of the kingdom of Sicily", without any regnal number.
FRIDERIC T DI GRA REX SICILIE: Fridericus Tertius Dei Gratia Rex Siciliae (from Latin: "Frederick the Third, by the grace of God, King of Sicily").
Frederick the Simple is often confused with an earlier Sicilian monarch, his grandfather Frederick III, who chose to call himself "Frederick III" even though he was actually only the second King Frederick to occupy the Sicilian throne. In fact, on the coins of Frederick IV, the letter T does not mean "third." This is an old tradition of titulature left over from the time of Frederick III, so the T is actually decorative.
DUC APUL'7 PRINCIPAT CAPUE (continuation of the title of ruler): Dux Apuliae et Principatus Capuae (from Latin: "Duke of Apulia and Prince of Capua").
The titles "Dux Apuliae" and "Princeps Capuae" had been part of the traditional style of the rulers of the Kingdom of Sicily since Norman times (11th century). Even if the monarch no longer had actual control over Apulia or Capua, the titles were retained nominally and minted on coins to emphasize the claim.
The plot of the obverse and reverse of the coin is identical to all other types of pierreale coins during the 13th-15th centuries: imperial eagle and the stripes in a heraldic shield.
Eagle represents the Hohenstaufen dynasty (also known as the Swabians), who ruled the Kingdom of Sicily before the Aragonese. The eagle is a symbol of imperial power, inherited from the Holy Roman Empire. It emphasizes the Sicilian kings’ imperial claims and their legitimacy as rulers descending from the emperors. In 1282 the Kingdom of Sicily came under the House of Aragon and into the flag were incorporated stripes. The stripes symbolize the union between the Sicilian kingdom and the Aragonese monarchy.
video with this pierreale on my YouTube channel — DEMA COINS
- Silver: 26 mm - 3.08 g
- Reference price: 92$
COIN PIERREALE — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- ITALIAN STATES (13th-15th centuries) — Kingdom of Sicily: pierreale
PIERREALE as coin name.
Pierreale (plural: pierreali) — purely Sicilian variant of the Italian reale coin (it was locally issued mainly in Sardinia), which in turn can be considered a descendant of the Spanish real.
The rulers of the Kingdom of Sicily minted pierreale during the 13th-15th centuries (i.e., during the existence of the Kingdom of Trinacria in Sicily).
The first coin of this denomination should be considered the silver pierreale of the ruler Peter III of Aragon (also known as Peter I in a role of King of Sicily); a gold "pierreale d'oro" was also issued in parallel, equal to 10 silver counterparts. It is in honor of this king that the pierreale coin is named (i.e., we are talking about "reale of Peter"). — In different languages, his name was represented as Peter, Pietro, Pedro, Pierre...
Interestingly, during the three centuries of issuance, the design of the coin remained surprisingly unchanged: it carried on the obverse the imperial eagle (the emblem of the Staufer dynasty of Peter I's queen, Constance II), and on the reverse — the arms of Aragon (representing Peter's native kingdom).
