1/2 Scudo - Charles Emmanuel III

Charles Emmanuel III reigned for nearly half a century and spent much of it at war — the War of Austrian Succession alone lasted eight years and reshaped the political geography of northern Italy in Sardinia's favor. The Kingdom extracted territorial concessions from both Austria and France, and the mint at Turin operated under considerable fiscal pressure throughout, supplying silver coinage to fund ongoing military commitments along the Alpine frontier.

The .904 fineness of this issue was deliberately set below the standard of major European trading coins, a recurring practice in Savoyard monetary policy that allowed the crown marginal seigniorage advantage on each piece struck.