. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. Fig. 96.—Naples, 1'r.^ncis II, piaslra, 1859 -'' (Div. of Numismatics photo) It was only natural that with the accession of Francis II in 1859 .'\rnaud should be commissioned to engrave the new king's coinage (fig. 96). This final piece in the long series of Neapolitan coins won wide approval at court for its "great ; The king ap- pointed him director of the Engra\'ing Office with the right to place his initials on all coin dies. The piastra of 1859, bearing the elegant but disillusioned features of the yoimg king, is t
. Bulletin - United States National Museum. Science. Fig. 96.—Naples, 1'r.^ncis II, piaslra, 1859 -'' (Div. of Numismatics photo) It was only natural that with the accession of Francis II in 1859 .'\rnaud should be commissioned to engrave the new king's coinage (fig. 96). This final piece in the long series of Neapolitan coins won wide approval at court for its "great ; The king ap- pointed him director of the Engra\'ing Office with the right to place his initials on all coin dies. The piastra of 1859, bearing the elegant but disillusioned features of the yoimg king, is the swan song of the independent Neapolitan mint. The encroaching waves of the unification mo\-emcnt borne by Garibaldi's men, soon reached these south- ern lands and in 1861 the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily was incorporated into the new Kingdom of Italy. The mint at Naples, however, continued to work—but now for the whole country. Names like Andrea Carriello, Scipione Catenacci, and especially Luigi Arnaud were well known ^- in the early , when coins bearing the portrait of Victor Emmanuel II were struck at this mint. The sole indication of their oriijin was a small letter n. ROME SINCE 1861 It seems an irony of history that periods of high achie\ement in the evolution of nations seldom find superior artists among coin engravers to perpetuate the greatness of their time. A classic example is Caesar's coinage. Without any doubt it can be classed among the weakest portrait series of the entire ancient Roman coinage, otherwise so outstanding for its forceful realistic portraiture. This same phenomenon occurred during the fateful years of Italy's battle for national unity. Under the leadership of the Savoy king, \'ictor Emmanuel II, Italians from separate territories set out to overthrow their national foreign rulers and join the movement for freedom and unity. The numerous coins of Victor Emmanuel II struck during the long reign of 29 years, however, do not show his ap
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Keywords: ., bookauthorun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectscience
