Mirandola's history as an independent duchy was already in terminal decline by 1669 — the Pico family had spent the better part of a century hemorrhaging territory and political credibility to larger neighbors. Alessandro II ruled a rump state increasingly dependent on Imperial patronage, and his coinage reflects that precarious position: mintages were small, the dies often cut locally rather than by major workshops, and survival rates are correspondingly poor. The duchy was finally suppressed by Joseph I in 1708, its assets absorbed into the Este holdings.
Mirandola's history as an independent duchy was already in terminal decline by 1669 — the Pico family had spent the better part of a century hemorrhaging territory and political credibility to larger neighbors. Alessandro II ruled a rump state increasingly dependent on Imperial patronage, and his coinage reflects that precarious position: mintages were small, the dies often cut locally rather than by major workshops, and survival rates are correspondingly poor. The duchy was finally suppressed by Joseph I in 1708, its assets absorbed into the Este holdings.