Italy - Mantua Siege of 1848 - Austrian Fiorino

OB: Ferdinand I of Austria-Hungary portrait with mintmark of 'GM'. This coin was previously listed under Austria (KM2226). This was an issue for 1848 only as Italians besieged Austrian forces at Mantua, northern Italy. [FERD.I.D.G.AVSTR.IMP.HVNG.BOH.R.H.N.V]. Rx: Imperial Eagle [REX.LOMB.ET.VEN.DALM.-GAL.LOD.ILL.A.A]. Scarce with only 3,947 struck.
Taken by Austria (& Russia) during the French Revolutionary Wars period (~1799), Mantua was solidly in Austrian hands by 1814. During the Revolutions of 1848 a general insurrection against Austrian rule occurred in northern Italy. An army under King Carlo Alberto of Sardinia-Piedmont besieged Mantua with the Austrians, under General Radetzky, defending it successfully. This series of coins bear the 'GM' mintmark which is presumed to refer to Guarnigione Mantua (Garrison Mantua). Mantua was united with the rest of Italy in 1866.