Filippo Maria Visconti acquired Genoa in 1421 after a decade of factional instability that had left the city cycling through French governors and internal signorie. His control lasted until 1435, when the catastrophic Milanese naval defeat at the Battle of Ponza — his own fleet destroyed by Alfonso V of Aragon — effectively ended Visconti authority over the city. Coins struck under his Genoese lordship thus bracket a politically coherent but militarily terminal episode.
The billon denaro minuto was the lowest denomination in active circulation, handled daily by people who never touched silver. Surviving examples are almost universally well-worn for exactly that reason.
Filippo Maria Visconti acquired Genoa in 1421 after a decade of factional instability that had left the city cycling through French governors and internal signorie. His control lasted until 1435, when the catastrophic Milanese naval defeat at the Battle of Ponza — his own fleet destroyed by Alfonso V of Aragon — effectively ended Visconti authority over the city. Coins struck under his Genoese lordship thus bracket a politically coherent but militarily terminal episode.
The billon denaro minuto was the lowest denomination in active circulation, handled daily by people who never touched silver. Surviving examples are almost universally well-worn for exactly that reason.