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LA «ZECHA DI MACAGNO CORTE REGALE»
Stories of the mint and of forgers in Maccagno
at the time of the Mandellis and the Borromeos (XVII-XVIII cent.)
www.zeccadimaccagno.it

Maccagno, Civico Museo Parisi-Valle - April 12 thru June 29, 2003
From Tuesday to Sunday - 10.00 to 12.00 am, 3.00 to 6.00 pm; closed on Mondays
Tickets: € 2.60     Cut-rate tickets: € 1.60

Opening:  Saturday, April 12, 2003 at 4.30 pm

Press release

The Comune of Maccagno and the Parisi-Valle museum have organized a prestigious event: a day entirely devoted to the history of Maccagno Inferiore. Maccagno Inferiore was a small village with a population of a few hundred that enjoyed a lively season of independence and privileges, including the authorization to mint. The idea of an exhibit and a meeting developed from the story of the mint of Maccagno; this will also be the perfect occasion for the presentation of a book on the same subject.

A meeting will be held on April 12, 2003 at the Parisi-Valle museum; the title will be Waves of history on the Verbano shore - Maccagno at the time of the Comuni, Maccagno at the time of the Mandellis, Maccagno at the time of the Borromeos, modern Maccagno.  The political, social, economical, and urbanistic aspects of the history of the two villages (Maccagno Inferiore and Maccagno Superiore, that were only reunited into a single comune during the XX century) will be reviewed during the meeting.
Various subjects will be discussed: political and feudal organizations in the Verbano area during the fourteenth and fifteenth century (which will be the opening lecture - by Gigliola Soldi Rondini); the art of Antonio da Tradate (painter) and his circle (Pierangelo Frigerio); the feudal Maccagno at the time of the Mandellis (Elisabetta Cannobbio) and at the time of the Borromeos (Carlo Alessandro Pisoni); social and urbanistic situation (Federico Crimi and Sergio Baroli).
The meeting will be a precious occasion to fully realize that the studies by the late famous historian Leopoldo Giampaolo are not the last step, but rather a stepping-stone towards new and important discoveries about the ancient village’s history.

During the meeting a book published by Alberti Libraio Editore in association with the Comune of Maccagno - “La zecca di Maccagno inferiore e le sue monete” by Luca Gianazza - will be made available for purchase.
The volume is the result of an extensive research on the activities of the mint in Maccagno Inferiore and is a reconstruction based on all the coins and the documents that have survived the passing of time. All the documents have been faithfully transcribed in the book.
In order to better understand the mint’s work the book also includes the history of the ancient imperial fief of Maccagno Inferiore, as well as an analysis of the monetary events occurred in Europe - and especially in the State of Milan - particularly during the seventeenth century. Both the currency and the mint of Maccagno are therefore seen inside of the correct historical and economical context, and enjoy a more precise setting thanks to a number of previously unreleased documents discovered by the author during his research.
Special attention is given to the money circulation and to the organization of the building in which the mint operated.

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The coin catalog features specimens found in over sixty museums from all over the world and in about 5,500 auction catalogs. All the coins are described and depicted, often with enlargements, and the individual minting dies are analyzed; therefore, a more accurate dating is now possible, and so is the study of the amount of coins produced by the mint.  Historical and numismatic notes accompany every specimen, and for each of them you will find comments and bibliography.
A series of appendices on some aspects of the coins in the seventeenth century, indexes of the illustrations, references to catalogs, a wide bibliography, and a detailed general index complete the book.

The inauguration of the exhibit “La Zecha di Macagno Corte Regale - Stories of forgers and the mint in Maccagno at the time of the Mandellis and the Borromeos (XVII-XVIII cent.)” will follow the meeting. The exhibition was planned by the Parisi - Valle museum in cooperation with Luca Gianazza and Carlo Alessandro Pisoni (secretary of the Magazzeno Storico Verbanese and keeper of the Archivio Borromeo dell’Isola Bella) and will be open to the public till June 29, 2003 at the museum.

The exhibition examines the history of the mint of Maccagno Inferiore. Some studies conducted in the past few years have made it possible to discover a number of details that greatly helped to shed light on the activities of the ancient mint and to better define the legal position of the mint of Maccagno Inferiore in an international context of huge economical changes.

The exhibit wants to go beyond the mere analysis of the coins produced in Maccagno, which is not entirely satisfactory, yet. In this exhibition the mint is not seen only as the place where coins were minted, but many other aspects are investigated, facets neglected in past researches such as the imperial concessions, the use that was made of the coins, and the building in which they were minted. A vast array of ancient documents (maps, rent agreements, illustrations) is used to reconstruct the history of the mint, as well as the parallel lives of the two towns, Maccagno Inferiore and Maccagno Superiore, destined to be eventually reunited.
Most of the material displayed is shown to the public for the first time and comes from both public and private local collections; among these: l’Archivio Borromeo dell’Isola Bella, l’Archivio Storico della Diocesi di Como, la Banca Popolare di Luino e Varese, le Civiche Raccolte Numismatiche di Milano.

This will not be merely the occasion to underline a particularly happy time in the cultural life of Maccagno, but also a milestone in the study of the ancient fief’s history.
The important governmental and cultural institutions that sponsor this initiative are a guarantee of the professionalism that is at the base of this event; we wish to thank the following for their precious support:Accademia di Studi Numismatici, Banca Popolare di Luino e Varese, Comunità Montana del Luinese, famiglia Borromeo Arese, Generali Assicurazioni, Provincia di Varese, Regione Lombardia, Società dei Verbanisti, Società Numismatica Italiana, Società Storica Lombarda, Società Storica Varesina, Societé Suisse de Numismatique.
A fundamental role in organizing the whole event has been played by Luca Gianazza and Alessandro Pisoni who have used their competence to select rare and unique documents for the exhibit from various archives in Lombardy and Piedmont. The Assessorato alla Cultura del Comune di Maccagno wants to express its gratitude to Gianazza and Pisoni, as well as to Daniela Martarelli, who coordinated the work of the team involved in the project; thanks to their cooperation and personal contacts many prestigious cultural institutions and well known scholars have given their help and support to these important events in Maccagno.

For further information and press kits:
Civico Museo Parisi Valle  Phone: 0332.561202  Fax:  0332.562507  e-mail: info@museoparisivalle.it
On-line information on the website of Magazzeno Storico Verbanese, www.verbanensia.org,  page: “Eventi”