1 Ducatone - Felipe II

The ducatone as a denomination was effectively invented in Milan — the duchy struck some of the earliest large-flan silver coins of the type in Europe, and Felipe II's issues represent the series at its most architecturally ambitious in terms of die work. Spanish control of Milan dated from 1535 following Francesco II Sforza's death without an heir, making the duchy a crown possession administered by governors answerable to Madrid rather than a vassal state.

Felipe never visited Milan. His authority there was exercised through a succession of governors across a 43-year reign, which accounts for the administrative consistency of the coinage despite the political distance.