1 écu d'or - Besso Ferrero Fieschi

Masserano was a tiny imperial fief in Piedmont controlled by the Fieschi family, who exploited their status as immediate vassals of the Holy Roman Emperor to exercise coinage rights largely independent of Savoy's interference. Besso Ferrero Fieschi issued this écu in 1581 at a moment when small north Italian lords were under increasing pressure from both Spanish Milan and the Duke of Savoy to surrender or formally justify their minting privileges.

MIR 733/1 is among the rarer documented gold issues from the Masserano series — the fief's output was never large, and gold denominations were struck in quantities that make survivors genuinely scarce.