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1/2 Sovrano - Joseph II
| Issuer | Milan, Duchy of |
|---|---|
| Year | 1787-1790 |
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| Currency | Scudo (?-1796) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Laureate and draped bust of Emperor Joseph II facing right, with flowing hair tied in a queue, rendered in a refined neoclassical style. The mint mark 'M' (for Milan) appears in the lower field beneath the bust. The surrounding legend reads IOSEPH·II·D·G·R·IMP·S·A·GE·HIE·HV·BO·REX·M, abbreviating his full imperial and royal titles in Latin, disposed along the inner border of the coin. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | IOSEPH·II·D·G·R·IMP·S·A·GE·HIE·HV·BO·REX· M |
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| Additional information |
Joseph II issued this coin as part of a sweeping monetary reform aimed at standardizing Habsburg coinage across his Italian territories — a project inseparable from his broader Josephinist program of administrative centralization that alienated Milan's patrician class nearly as thoroughly as his ecclesiastical policies. The Sovrano and its half were intended to replace a chaotic patchwork of local denominations, though the reform outlasted Joseph himself by only months.
He died in February 1790, and Leopold II suspended much of his brother's reformist agenda almost immediately upon succession.