Denaro - Azzo Visconti Bust

Azzo Visconti seized Cremona in 1334, absorbing it into the expanding Visconti signoria over Lombardy. This coin belongs to the brief window before his death in 1339 ended his line directly — he died without legitimate heirs, passing control to his uncles Luchino and Giovanni. Municipal coinage struck under Visconti occupation often retained local fabric while inserting dynastic imagery, a deliberate political tool for legitimizing rule over newly acquired communes.