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8 Denari - Conrado II
| Issuer | Republic of Genoa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1619-1627 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Central field depicts a facing figure of the enthroned Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II (Conrado II), rendered in a highly stylized, medieval manner characteristic of early seventeenth-century Genoese hammered billon coinage. The effigy is shown frontal, robed, and holding imperial regalia, with the design exhibiting the flat, low-relief execution typical of small-denomination struck pieces. The surrounding legend, partially visible due to the irregular flan and weak strike, reads DUV GVB REIP GENV, referencing the Doge and governing magistracy of the Republic of Genoa in abbreviated Latin. The planchet is notably irregular at the edges, consistent with the hand-cut flan preparation standard for this series. |
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| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
Genoa's billon coinage of the early seventeenth century was produced under the doge system in which the city's chief magistrate rotated every two years — Conrado II referring not to a single ruler but to the collective dogal period, a Genoese cataloguing convention that frustrates precise attribution to individual administrations. The republic was under sustained financial pressure during these years, caught between the costs of maintaining its eastern trading network and the disruptions of the Thirty Years' War spreading across its northern neighbors.
Small billon fractions like this circulated heavily in Liguria's local markets, where silver was hoarded and copper distrusted.