The Marquisate of Ceva was a minor Piedmontese lordship that changed hands repeatedly through the fourteenth century, caught between the competing pressures of Savoy, Anjou, and the Monferrato. Guglielmo's reign fell squarely within this turbulent period. Small billon fractions like this quarter grosso were the workhorse coinage of northern Italian commerce at the time — not prestige issues, but instruments of daily exchange in markets where larger silver was simply too valuable to make change.
CNI II records only a handful of die pairings for this type, suggesting limited and likely episodic production.
The Marquisate of Ceva was a minor Piedmontese lordship that changed hands repeatedly through the fourteenth century, caught between the competing pressures of Savoy, Anjou, and the Monferrato. Guglielmo's reign fell squarely within this turbulent period. Small billon fractions like this quarter grosso were the workhorse coinage of northern Italian commerce at the time — not prestige issues, but instruments of daily exchange in markets where larger silver was simply too valuable to make change.
CNI II records only a handful of die pairings for this type, suggesting limited and likely episodic production.