1 Quattrino - Nicolo III

Niccolò III d'Este ruled Ferrara for nearly half a century, long enough to see the city become a genuine Renaissance court and a major player in northern Italian diplomacy. His coinage reflects the fragmented monetary world of the Po Valley, where billon small change circulated alongside the issues of Milan, Venice, and the Papal States with little regard for issuing authority. The quattrino was the workhorse denomination of daily exchange — bread, not politics.

MIR 225 is among the more frequently encountered Este minor issues, which suggests sustained production across multiple decades of the reign rather than a single minting campaign.