Montenegro 335. CNI 58. Paolucci II 1. Very rare.

Drilled.

MB.

In 1500, Antonio Grimani was Captain General of the Sea in command of a fleet to which he had personally contributed 20,000 gold ducats, though it was far inferior to that commanded by Sultan Bayezid, who easily took Lepanto. Accused of cowardice, he was imprisoned and exiled but managed to escape to Rome, to the home of his son, the Cardinal, through whose good offices he worked in 1510 to facilitate the policy of Doge Leonardo Loredan, aimed at persuading Pope Julius II to withdraw from the League of Cambra. He was recalled to Venice and appointed Procurator of San Marco. Then, late in life, he was elected Doge, which he saw first and foremost as reparation for the grave damage, both moral and material, he had unjustly suffered.

In the second year of the Dogedom, no different model of osella was minted.” (Cit. Dr. Edoardo Curti, Finarte auction catalogue 843, page 50).