Charles Emmanuel III struck these zecchini during the War of the Austrian Succession, a conflict in which Sardinia played an unusually pivotal role — switching alliance from France to Austria in 1742 and extracting significant territorial concessions in the process. The Savoy court maintained Venetian-derived zecchino coinage conventions as a deliberate signal of commercial credibility, particularly for trade across the Alpine passes and Ligurian ports where Genoese competition was constant.
The 1745–46 window coincides with the French and Spanish invasion of Piedmont, when Turin itself came under serious threat before Emmanuel's victory at Assietta in July 1747 turned the campaign.
Charles Emmanuel III struck these zecchini during the War of the Austrian Succession, a conflict in which Sardinia played an unusually pivotal role — switching alliance from France to Austria in 1742 and extracting significant territorial concessions in the process. The Savoy court maintained Venetian-derived zecchino coinage conventions as a deliberate signal of commercial credibility, particularly for trade across the Alpine passes and Ligurian ports where Genoese competition was constant.
The 1745–46 window coincides with the French and Spanish invasion of Piedmont, when Turin itself came under serious threat before Emmanuel's victory at Assietta in July 1747 turned the campaign.