Casale. Guglielmo IX Paleologus, 1494–1518. First period: 1499/1505 – circa 1509. Double ducat, AV 6.89 g. ø 29 mm. GVLIELMVS MAR MONT FER 7 C' Armoured and draped youthful bust l., wearing cap. Rev. SACRI RO IMP PRINC VICQ P P Quartered coat of arms with the small shield of Montferrat in heart. CNI –. Bernareggi 31. Ravegnani Morosini 3 (this coin illustrated). MIR 177. Friedberg 165a. Extremely rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, possibly the finest of very few specimens known in private hands. A portrait of excellent style and a lovely reddish tone. Extremely fine Son of Marquis Boniface III and Maria Branković, he succeeded his father upon the latter's death. William protected the French army during its retreat from Milan in 1513 and, to avoid reprisals by Massimiliano Sforza, was forced to pay him 30,000 scudi. The agreements with Massimiliano were not respected, and his troops entered Montferrat, bringing death and destruction. At the same time, having learned of the attempt by his distant relative Oddone, Marquis of Incisa, to have himself crowned Marquis of Montferrat, William marched against his kinsman and occupied the town of Incisa in 1514, annexing the territories of the marquisate and sentencing Oddone and his son Badone to death. However, this execution drew the wrath of the Empire upon William, which, while decreeing the annexation of the territory of Incisa, ordered Paleologus to stand trial. The subsequent bureaucratic proceedings ended in William's favour. The portrait of the marquis, shown in profile and rendered with crisp, incisive modelling, displays a remarkable Renaissance character, reflecting a taste directly derived from the tradition of Italian medallic art of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Particularly refined is the treatment of the hair, neatly emerging from beneath the headdress, while the latter, broad and slightly inclined, helps to define the contours of the bust. The clothing, with the rich folds of the garment and the detailed rendering of the shoulder, is treated in a manner reminiscent of Renaissance commemorative portraiture.Enclosed by the legend and set against a relatively broad field, the effigy acquires a particular monumentality, characteristic of the visual culture of the period. Taken as a whole, this magnificent coin becomes a veritable portrait in miniature, conveying the prestige and elegance of the die engraving. Please find here the video of the coin