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1 Ducat - Paolo Besso Ferrero-Fieschi
| Issuer | Principality of Masserano (Masserano, Italian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1629-1667 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Ducat |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A five-line abbreviated Latin inscription contained within a decorative ornamented square cartouche or tablet, the frame embellished with scrollwork and foliate ornamental borders typical of hammered Italian States gold coinage of the seventeenth century. The text occupies the full field within the tablet, reading PAV FER MES PRI / MAR CR / P MON AVR / DA IIII across five lines, identifying the issuing prince and the denomination. The overall composition is symmetrical, with the decorative border filling the coin's round field around the central tablet. |
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| Mintage | ND (1629-1667) |
| Additional information |
The Ferrero-Fieschi family held Masserano as an imperial fief under Spanish suzerainty, a precarious arrangement that gave them the right to strike coinage but left them perpetually vulnerable to the ambitions of Savoy pressing from the west. Paolo Besso ruled during the Thirty Years' War, when small north Italian lordships like Masserano mattered chiefly as corridors for Spanish troop movements along the so-called "Spanish Road" connecting Milan to the Low Countries. That military geography made even minor minting rights politically significant.
Ducats from Masserano across this period are scarce survivors — the principality's output was never large, and few examples circulated far beyond the immediate region.