1 Follaro Type 3

The Ragusan follaro circulated within one of medieval Europe's most carefully managed small-state economies. Ragusa — present-day Dubrovnik — maintained independence through an elaborate system of diplomatic neutrality, paying tribute simultaneously to the Ottoman Empire and, at times, acknowledging Aragonese suzerainty, a balancing act that kept its mint active long after neighboring Dalmatian cities had lost their monetary autonomy entirely. This particular type spans a hundred and sixty years of continuous issue, an unusually long run even for a stable republic.

Copper small change of this kind was frequently restruck over worn predecessors, which accounts for the off-center or doubled-die surfaces commonly observed on survivors.