1 Quattrino - Paul III MACERAT

Paul III — Alessandro Farnese before his elevation — used the Macerata mint intermittently as part of the broader Papal States monetary apparatus, a network of provincial mints whose output varied sharply depending on local economic pressure and the availability of bullion. The quattrino was the lowest practical denomination in circulation, struck in billon so debased that the silver content was essentially nominal — a concession to the fiction of metallic currency at a time when copper alone was politically unacceptable.

Macerata's issues under Paul III are distinguished in the references by minor die variations across Muntoni 154 and 155.