Cetatea Albă — known to the Genoese as Moncastro and to the Ottomans as Akkerman — occupied one of the most contested positions on the northwestern Black Sea coast, and its brief autonomous coinage under Alexander II reflects a moment when the city's governors still had room to maneuver between Moldavian suzerainty and increasing Ottoman pressure. The brass composition is notable: most Moldavian municipal issues of this period were struck in silver, however debased.
Cetatea Albă — known to the Genoese as Moncastro and to the Ottomans as Akkerman — occupied one of the most contested positions on the northwestern Black Sea coast, and its brief autonomous coinage under Alexander II reflects a moment when the city's governors still had room to maneuver between Moldavian suzerainty and increasing Ottoman pressure. The brass composition is notable: most Moldavian municipal issues of this period were struck in silver, however debased.