1 Parpagliola - Alessandro Farnese Young Bust

Alessandro Farnese spent most of his tenure as Duke of Parma and Piacenza governing the Spanish Netherlands as Philip II's most capable military commander — the sieges of Antwerp (1585) and the broader Flemish campaigns consumed his attention and treasury far more than domestic coinage policy. The parpagliola was a small billon fraction, its production delegated largely to mint officials while Farnese himself was campaigning north of the Alps.

The "young bust" designation distinguishes this type from later issues, a die-variety distinction catalogued under MIR#975 that collectors use to sequence the duchy's output across his reign. Farnese died in 1592 at Arras, closing the issue.