1 Scudo - Filippo II

Filippo II never set foot in Milan after inheriting the duchy from his father Carlo V in 1556 — the territory was governed entirely through appointed governors while Philip remained in Madrid or the Escorial. This absentee lordship over one of Europe's wealthiest cities lasted the full four decades of his reign, making the Milanese gold scudo a striking case of a coinage that circulated vigorously in a place its issuing authority would never visit.

The Fr#718 designation places this squarely in the Friedberg gold reference, where Milanese issues of this reign are noted for considerable die variation across the mint's long production run under multiple governors.