1 Sesino - Ranuccio I Farnese

Ranuccio I inherited Parma and Piacenza in 1592 following the death of his father Alessandro, the celebrated Spanish commander, and almost immediately set about consolidating ducal authority through administrative and monetary reform. The sesino was the workhorse denomination of northern Italian petty commerce — billon by necessity, not preference, since the chronic shortage of fine metal in small denominations was a persistent problem across the Po Valley states throughout this period.

In 1612, Ranuccio executed dozens of Parma's leading noble families on charges of conspiracy, seizing their assets. Whether this fiscal windfall affected mint output in the years following remains an open question in the documentary record.