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1676, Tuscany, Cosimo III de' Medici. Beautiful & Rare Silver ½ Piastra Coin. R!

Mint Year: 1676
Condition: About XF!
Mint Place: Florence
Ruler: Cosimo III de' Medici
State: Duchy of Tuscany (Italian State)
Denomination: ½ Piastre (Mezza Piastra)
Reference: CNI 11, Montagano 331, Galeotti XII.1, KM-(not listed). RR!
Weight: 15.44gm
Diameter: 37mm
Material: Silver

Obverse: Armored and draped bust of Cosimo III de' Medici right.
Legend: COSMVS . III . D . G . MAG . DVX . ETRVR . VI

Reverse: Young nimbate Saint John, shouldering long cross and kneeling infront of togate prophet Zechariah (his father).
Legend: S . IOANNES . BAPTIST : FI: ZACHARIAE
Exergue: . 1676 .

The Medici family, one of the leading families in Europe for over four hundred years, ends with Giovanni Gaston. He had no heirs and was unable to provide for his succession. Thus, in 1738, the Grand Duchy of Florence becomes attached to the House of Austria.

Zechariah (Hebrew: ?????????, Latin: Zacharias) was a person in the Hebrew Bible and traditionally considered the author of the Book of Zechariah, the eleventh of the Twelve Minor Prophets. He was a prophet of the two-tribe Kingdom of Judah, and like Ezekiel was of priestly extraction. He describes himself (Zechariah 1:1) as "the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo." In Ezra 5:1 and 6:14 he is called "the son of Iddo," who was properly his grandfather. His prophetical career began in the second year of Darius, king of Persia (B.C. 520), about sixteen years after the return of the first company from their Babylonian exile. He was contemporary with Haggai (Ezra 5:1).

John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River. Most historians agree he baptized Jesus. John was a historical figure mentioned in each of the Canonical gospels, Aramaic Matthew and by the Jewish historian Josephus.He followed the example of previous Hebrew prophets, living austerely, challenging sinful rulers, calling for repentance, and promising God's justice. John is regarded as a prophet in Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, and Mandaeism.

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Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was the penultimate Grand Duke of Tuscany. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. Cosimo's 53-year long reign, the longest in Tuscan history, was marked by a series of ultra-reactionary laws which regulated prostitution and banned May celebrations. His reign also witnessed Tuscany's deterioration to previously unknown economic lows. He was succeeded by his elder surviving son, Gian Gastone, when he died, in 1723.

He married Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, a cousin of Louis XIV. It was a marriage fraught with tribulation. Marguerite Louise eventually abandoned Tuscany for the Convent of Montmartre. Together, they had 3 children: Ferdinando in 1663, Anna Maria Luisa, Electress Palatine, in 1667, and Gian Gastone, the last Medicean ruler of Tuscany, in 1671.

In later life, he attempted to have Anna Maria Luisa recognised as the universal heiress of Tuscany, but Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, would not allow it because Florence was nominally an imperial fief, and he felt he alone could alter the Tuscan laws of succession. All Cosimo's efforts to salvage the plan floundered, and in 1737, upon his younger son's death, Tuscany passed to the House of Lorraine.