Acclaimed as sovereign by the people and recognized by the burghers of the city of Parma, John the Blind had four denominations minted in the years 1331-1335: grosso, denaro, mezzano and piccolo. The obverse of the first two shows a crowned bust of the King of Bohemia facing three-quarters left.

The grosso, a silver coin, is one of the first medieval coins that seems to present a realistic portrait of a royal ruler. If this is indeed the case, this coin would be the only contemporary portrait of John the Blind (1296-1346). His piercing look, the interesting style of his beard and his expressive face in three-quarter profile reinforce the realism of this image of the Count of Luxembourg. The legend surrounding the portrait states only his first name, Iohannes. For the burghers of Parma this created a direct link between the issuer and this personalized coinage.

John the Blind was born in Luxembourg. He was the son of Count Henry VII, who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Through his 1310 marriage with Elisabeth, princess of the Přemyslid dynasty, John became King of Bohemia, but he had greater ambitions. From late 1330 to the spring of 1331 he was in Italy, and again in December 1332. This worried the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, as John’s military activity suggested that he was following in the footsteps of his father, who had gone to Italy in 1310 in order to restore imperial domination.

After the main cities of northern Italy had sworn allegiance to him, he minted special coins to demonstrate his rights as Lord of Cremona, Lucca and Parma. As these were highly symbolic coins issued in small quantities, some of them have become very rare.