1 Luigino - Imitation of Dombes 11/2 Ecu 'Totam Asiam' variant

Luigini were small silver coins struck by dozens of Italian lordships in the 1660s specifically for export to the Levant, where they circulated at a premium against local coinage. Fosdinovo — a tiny marquisate in the Lunigiana controlled by the Malaspina family — was among the most prolific of these issuers, exploiting the trade almost industrially. The Levantine market collapsed abruptly after 1669 when Ottoman authorities recognized the coins were underweight relative to their exchange value and banned their circulation.

The 'Totam Asiam' variant designation tracks a specific reverse die used across multiple north Italian mints imitating Dombes issues, making attribution to individual lordships dependent almost entirely on obverse die identification.