1 Sesino - Ranuccio II

Ranuccio II ruled Parma for nearly five decades under heavy Spanish suzerainty, his reign marked by financial mismanagement severe enough that the duchy's copper coinage became the primary means of covering shortfalls the silver issues could not absorb. The sesino was the lowest practical denomination in circulation, handling the transactions silver simply couldn't reach.

In 1612, his grandfather Ranuccio I had executed fourteen Parmesan nobles on fabricated conspiracy charges, largely to seize their estates. The dynasty's finances never fully recovered the credibility that episode destroyed.