1 Sovrano - Franz I

Franz I — Franz II of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806 — ruled Lombardy-Venetia as a constituent kingdom of the Austrian Empire, a political construction created at the Congress of Vienna specifically to legitimize Habsburg control over northern Italy. The Sovrano was the Austrian equivalent of the Ducat system adapted for Italian circulation, and Lombardy-Venetia maintained its own mint output at Milan and Venice partly as a concession to regional commercial expectations.

Franz died in March 1835, making this a final-year issue under his name. The Milan mint struck these in limited quantities that year before transitioning to Ferdinand I coinage.