Pezzetta Antoine 1er

Antoine I ruled Monaco under French suzerainty during the War of the Spanish Succession, a conflict that disrupted trade routes throughout the western Mediterranean and squeezed the principality's already limited resources. Billon coinage — that debased silver-copper alloy — was the pragmatic answer to a shortage of fine metal, not an aesthetic choice. These pieces circulated hard in a small economy with few alternatives.

The two-year window of production reflected the emergency rather than a planned series. Gadoury MC90 survivors in any presentable state are genuinely scarce.