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1 Ducato - Agostino Spinola
| Issuer | County of Tassarolo (Italian States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1606 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 3.4 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A large crowned heraldic shield bearing an eight-fold quartered coat of arms, encompassing the dynastic emblems of the Spinola family, displayed within a beaded inner circle. The shield is surmounted by an ornate crown, and the entire composition is encircled by the Latin legend. The armorial quarterings include horizontal bars, a diagonal bend with charges, and other heraldic devices characteristic of the Spinola lineage. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Tassarolo was a tiny Imperial fief in the Ligurian Apennines, and the Spinola family's right to strike gold there was a jealously guarded privilege rooted in their elevation to the Imperial County in 1597 by Rudolf II. Agostino Spinola was among the first of the line to exercise that mint right in earnest, producing ducats that circulated primarily through Genoese commercial networks rather than any local economy — the county itself was too small to generate meaningful monetary demand.
The Holy Roman Empire's grant of coinage rights to minor Italian lords like the Spinola was as much diplomatic currency as economic policy, binding Genoese banking clans to Habsburg interests during the prolonged financial strains of the Thirty Years' War's opening decade.