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1/2 Soldo - Franz II
| Issuer | Mantua, Duchy of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1793 |
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| Currency | Scudo |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The denomination and issuing authority are displayed in bold capital letters arranged across five lines within a plain field, reading: the fraction 1/2 on the first line, SOLDO on the second, DI on the third, MANTOVA on the fourth, and the date 1793 on the fifth. The legends are deeply struck and well-spaced, occupying nearly the entire flan. A fine milled border encircles the reverse, providing a neat frame to the stark typographic design characteristic of late Austrian Enlightenment coinage for Italian dependencies. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Franz II issued this coin as Holy Roman Emperor, but Mantua's local coinage remained under separate administrative control through the Habsburg-appointed governorship — a legacy of the city's absorption into Austrian dominion after the Gonzaga line died out in 1708. By 1793, revolutionary France was already destabilizing the Italian peninsula, and Mantua's role as a heavily fortified Habsburg garrison city meant its monetary affairs were closely tied to military logistics rather than commercial need. The fortress would fall to Napoleon just four years later, ending Austrian control entirely and rendering this coinage obsolete almost immediately.