1 Scudo - Ferdinando Carlo

Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga was the last Duke of Mantua, and these scudi were struck during the final, catastrophic years of his rule. He backed the French in the War of the Spanish Succession — a catastrophic miscalculation. Habsburg forces occupied Mantua in 1707, Ferdinando Carlo fled to Venice, and the duchy was formally absorbed into the Austrian Empire. He died in exile in 1708, extinguishing the Gonzaga line entirely. Coins from this four-year window are the last independent Mantuan silver issues ever produced.