1 Scudo

Lucca's republican coinage of this period occupies an odd corner of Italian numismatic history — the city-state had maintained its independence against repeated pressure from Florence, Napoleon not yet on the horizon, and its mint continued issuing high-denomination silver under the nominal authority of the republic's rotating magistracy rather than any single ruler. The scudo denomination required substantial fine silver at a moment when Lucca's silk trade, long the city's economic backbone, was facing stiff competition from French manufacturers.

The Dav EC III reference places this squarely in the pre-unification central Italian series. Lucca would survive as an independent republic until 1799, when French troops ended seven centuries of self-governance.