8 denari - Pascal Paoli

The Kingdom of Corsica under Pasquale Paoli issued its own coinage beginning in 1762, a deliberate assertion of independence from Genoese rule. France purchased the island from Genoa in May 1768 — the same year this piece was struck — and Paoli's government collapsed within months after French forces defeated his militia at the Battle of Ponte Novu in 1769. He fled to Britain, where he lived in exile for over two decades.

The gold-plated steel composition of this specific example marks it as a modern restrike or commemorative reproduction, not an original issue. Authentic 1768 Corsican denari were struck in copper or billon.