1 Testone - Ludovico II

Masserano was a tiny imperial fief in Piedmont, granted comital status under the Fieschi family before passing to the Ferrero-Fieschi line. Ludovico II ruled during the Italian Wars' most destructive phase, when French and Habsburg armies repeatedly crossed Piedmont, and small lordships like Masserano issued testoni partly to assert jurisdictional legitimacy under imperial protection — Charles V had confirmed the family's minting rights.

The testone denomination itself was a north Italian invention of the late fifteenth century, designed to replace the clumsy stacking of smaller silver fractions in commercial transactions. Output from Masserano was never large.