1 1/2 Tornese - Ferdinando II

The tornese was a deeply embedded unit in southern Italian monetary tradition, traceable to the French *denier tournois* introduced under Angevin rule in the thirteenth century. By the time Ferdinando II was consolidating Bourbon authority in Naples after the upheavals of 1820–21, the fractional copper issues served a population that dealt almost entirely in small change — the upper denominations were largely invisible in daily Neapolitan street commerce. This denomination, a peculiar half-step between the single and double tornese, reflects the chronic shortage of small copper that periodically forced the mint at Naples to split units rather than simply increase supply.

KM#315 spans nearly a decade of production, suggesting steady if unspectacular demand throughout Ferdinando's reign.