1 Ducato - Karl IV

Karl IV of Sicily was in fact Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor — "Karl" being the German rendering of his name used in certain Habsburg administrative contexts. This ducato was struck during his reign over the Two Sicilies, a dominion he held not through inheritance from his Spanish line alone but through the complex dynastic settlement that followed Ferdinand II of Aragon's expulsion of the French in 1504. Sicily's mint at Palermo operated under tight viceregal supervision throughout this period, producing gold coinage calibrated to facilitate trade with the eastern Mediterranean, where the ducato remained the preferred unit of account.