2 1/2 Soldi - Victor Amadeus II

Victor Amadeus II struck these billon pieces during one of the most precarious stretches of his reign — the War of the Grand Alliance had Savoy caught between French pressure and the opposing coalition, and he was effectively coerced into fighting for Louis XIV before switching sides to join the Alliance in 1690. Military expenditure during these years was relentless, and the billon coinage of 1691–1693 reflects a treasury under strain, with alloy quality kept deliberately low to stretch metal supplies across a duchy financing campaigns on its own soil.