Milano. Francesco I Sforza, 1450-1466. Medal, AR 33.52 g. ø 42 mm. Small head of St. Ambrose FRANC' S VICE C DVX MEDIOLANI 7 C' Armoured bust r. of Francesco Sforza, within border of rosettes. Rev. Small head of St. Ambrose IO GALEA3 V C DVX MEDIOLANI 7 C' Armoured bust r. of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, within border of rosettes. CNI 29 (multiple of lira). Hill 674. Ravegnani Morosini 5. Crippa 28. MIR first edition p. 166, M1. Of the highest rarity. Two interesting portraits and a wonderful old cabinet tone. Good very fine Ex Leu sale 74, 1998, 412. From the Pietro Verri collection. A distinctive group of Milanese medallic pieces, struck during the sixteenth century, bears the portraits of earlier rulers of Milan, including members of the Visconti and Sforza dynasties, as well as Louis XII of France. The pieces are in silver, with the notable exception of the gold medal bearing the portrait of Louis XII. The persons represented were no longer living when these pieces were produced. They therefore belong not to the commemorative medallic tradition of contemporary events, but to a retrospective dynastic series, conceived as a gallery of the rulers who had successively held the duchy of Milan. The dies show significant links and repetitions from one piece to another, indicating that the medals were conceived as part of a unified undertaking rather than as isolated issues. The series has traditionally been associated with the later Sforza period, although its precise date and patron remain uncertain. The Gnecchi suggested either Ludovico Maria Sforza or, more cautiously, Francesco II Sforza as possible patrons, while acknowledging the difficulties involved in assigning the series to either ruler. We believe that it is high unlikely that Ludovico il Moro could have authorised these issues, as both the medals of Louis XII and Maximilian were struck after his death. The inclusion of Louis XII is particularly noteworthy. Although he was a foreign king who occupied the duchy, his portrait belongs naturally within a retrospective succession of the rulers of Milan. The series should therefore be understood principally as an expression of Milanese dynastic and historical memory, rather than as a group of medals commemorating individual events. Please find here the video of the coin