Charles of Bourbon struck this coin in the first year of his Sicilian reign, having been installed as King of the Two Sicilies at age eighteen following Spanish military intervention against Austrian Habsburgs who had held the island since 1720. The tari denomination itself was deeply rooted in Arab Sicily — the word derives from the Arabic ṭarī — and its persistence into the eighteenth century reflects how thoroughly medieval monetary conventions had embedded themselves in southern Italian commerce.
Charles would later abdicate to become Charles III of Spain in 1759, handing Naples and Sicily to his third son Ferdinand.
Charles of Bourbon struck this coin in the first year of his Sicilian reign, having been installed as King of the Two Sicilies at age eighteen following Spanish military intervention against Austrian Habsburgs who had held the island since 1720. The tari denomination itself was deeply rooted in Arab Sicily — the word derives from the Arabic ṭarī — and its persistence into the eighteenth century reflects how thoroughly medieval monetary conventions had embedded themselves in southern Italian commerce.
Charles would later abdicate to become Charles III of Spain in 1759, handing Naples and Sicily to his third son Ferdinand.