1 Zecchino – Maccagno

In 1623, Maccagno, a small town on the eastern shore of Lake Maggiore, existed within a complex and fragmented monetary landscape typical of the early modern Italian peninsula. The region was not part of a unified Italian state but was a subject territory under the Spanish Crown, administered as part of the Duchy of Milan. This political arrangement meant that the official currency was the Spanish silver real and its larger unit, the escudo, which circulated alongside the Milanese lira, soldo, and denaro. However, due to Maccagno's location on important trade routes connecting Lombardy to the Swiss Cantons and the German lands, a multitude of other coins were in daily use, including Venetian ducats, Florentine florins, and various German and Swiss silver thalers and kreuzers.

The period was marked by severe monetary instability across Europe, driven by the influx of precious metals from the Americas and the debasement of coinage by various states. The Spanish Crown, engaged in the costly Thirty Years' War, frequently manipulated the value of its coinage to finance its military, leading to inflation and confusion. In a market town like Maccagno, merchants and residents had to be expert money-changers, constantly assessing the silver content and official exchange rates (corso) of dozens of different coins. This created a precarious economic environment where the real value of payments could fluctuate, disadvantaging peasants and wage laborers paid in local currency while benefiting merchants with access to stronger foreign coin.

Furthermore, Maccagno had the unique distinction of being an imperial fief, directly held by the Marchesi Mandelli under the Holy Roman Emperor, a status separate from its Spanish political administration. This duality potentially allowed for certain fiscal autonomies or the local circulation of imperial decrees regarding currency. Consequently, transactions in the town's market would have required careful negotiation, often relying on the lira imperiale as an accounting unit to denominate prices and contracts, while actual payment was made in a heterogeneous mix of physical coins. This situation made commerce inefficient and fraught with risk, reflecting the broader monetary chaos of the Seicento that hindered economic integration and growth.