1/2 Follaro - Guglielmo I

William I inherited a Norman kingdom that had perfected the art of cultural synthesis, and his copper coinage reflects a monetary system still deeply indebted to Arab administrative practice — the follaro and its half derived directly from the Islamic fals tradition maintained by Roger II's Muslim mint workers at Palermo. William's reign was marked by near-constant baronial revolt and his near-total delegation of government to the admiral Maio of Bari, whose assassination in 1160 threw the kingdom into open crisis. Coin production continued regardless.