5 Baiocchi – Fermo

In 1797, the Italian city-state of Fermo, then part of the Papal States, was engulfed in the turbulent wake of the French Revolutionary Wars. Following Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Italy in 1796, the region experienced profound political and economic dislocation. The French imposed heavy war indemnities and requisitioned supplies, draining local resources and specie (gold and silver coin). This created a severe liquidity crisis, as hard currency was hoarded or flowed out of the territory to meet French demands, crippling everyday commerce and creating widespread economic hardship.

The vacuum left by the scarcity of official papal coinage led to a chaotic and fragmented monetary environment. To facilitate basic transactions, a patchwork of older, worn coins from various Italian states remained in circulation, often accepted below their face value. More critically, local authorities and even private entities began issuing biglietti di cart (paper notes) or token coinage as emergency substitutes. This unregulated flood of fiduciary money, with no solid backing, led to rapid depreciation and a loss of public confidence, further destabilizing prices and market exchanges.

This monetary anarchy occurred within a specific political context: early 1797 was the final year before Fermo would be forcibly incorporated into the French-sponsored Roman Republic in early 1798. Therefore, the currency situation was not merely an economic issue but a symptom of the collapsing old order. The Papal government's authority, including its monopoly on minting, was disintegrating under French pressure, leaving Fermo in a transitional state of financial disorder until a new, imposed political system could attempt to establish its own monetary control.