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1 Piastra - Ferdinando I
| Issuer | Tuscany, Grand Duchy of |
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| Year | 1587-1588 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Ferdinando I de' Medici facing right, attired in a cardinal's cassock with a prominent clerical collar, the hair and beard rendered in fine curling relief. The effigy is boldly modelled in high relief within a plain inner border. The encircling Latin legend names the sitter as Cardinal Ferdinando, Third Grand Duke of Tuscany, and is punctuated by floral ornaments with the date 1587 incorporated into the inscription. The overall style is characteristic of late Renaissance Italian die-engraving of the Florentine mint. |
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| Obverse lettering | • FERD • M • CAR • MAG • DVX • ETRVRIÆ III ✿ • 1587 • ✿ (Translation: Cardinal Ferdinando I de' Medici, Third Grand Duke of Tuscany) |
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Ferdinando I de' Medici struck this piastra within months of an extraordinary personal pivot: he was a cardinal when his brother Francesco died in October 1587, and he renounced his ecclesiastical rank — highly unusual for someone of his standing — to assume the grand duchy. These first coins of his reign were therefore issued by a man who had shed the purple of Rome for secular rule in Florence. The Florentine mint, the Zecca, moved quickly to establish his authority in silver.
The MIR 201/1 designation marks this as the first die pairing of the type, distinguished from subsequent emissions by subtle differences in the lettering spacing documented by Toderi and Vannel.