1 Soldo - Duchy of Mantua

The Duchy of Mantua's final decades were defined by the War of the Spanish Succession and the preceding War of the Mantuan Succession, which left the city sacked by Imperial troops in 1630 and its population decimated by plague. By the time this soldo was issued, Mantua was effectively a satellite of Habsburg interests, with the Gonzaga line exhausted and Ferdinando Carlo — the last duke — spending the treasury on theatrical entertainments while the duchy slid toward annexation. Austria absorbed Mantua outright in 1708, making this among the last coinages struck under nominal Gonzaga authority.