1 Follaro - Guglielmo I

William I inherited a Norman-Arab administrative apparatus from his father Roger II, and the follaro reflects that hybrid bureaucracy in its production as much as its design. The Palermo mint under the Hauteville kings operated with Arabic-speaking staff well into the twelfth century, a practical arrangement that kept fiscal machinery running without interruption after the Norman conquest.

William I himself — called "the Bad" by hostile chroniclers, largely for crushing the baronial revolt of 1160-61 with ruthless efficiency — ruled a kingdom that was arguably the most culturally complex in Latin Christendom. The follaro was the lowest denomination of that system, struck in quantities that rarely survived casual use.