Grosso of 4 denari / 1/2 grosso - Commune In the name of Frederick II

Como's communal coinage of the 1250s occupies an awkward political moment: the city had backed the Hohenstaufen cause, and these issues invoking Frederick II's name were struck in his memory after his death in December 1250. The practice of minting in a deceased emperor's name was not mere sentiment — it provided legal continuity for a commune whose monetary authority derived from imperial grant. Frederick's own fiscal demands on Lombard cities had been punishing, yet his name remained politically useful long after Cremona.