Ducato (Italian) | |||||
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Unit | |||||
Plural | Y | ||||
Denominations | |||||
Subunit | |||||
1⁄100 | grana | ||||
1⁄200 | tornesel | ||||
Coins | 1⁄2, 1, 1+1⁄2, 2, 3, 5, 10 tornesels G.5, G.10, G.20, G.60, G.120 | ||||
Rarely used | D.3, D.6, D.15, D.30 | ||||
Demographics | |||||
Date of introduction | 1816 | ||||
Date of withdrawal | 1860 | ||||
User(s) | Two Sicilies | ||||
Issuance | |||||
Mint | Naples Mint Palermo Mint [1] | ||||
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. |
The ducat was the main currency of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies between 1816 and 1860. When the Congress of Vienna created the kingdom merging the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily, the ducat became at par a continuation of the Neapolitan ducat and the Sicilian piastra issued prior to 1816, although the Sicilian piastra had been subdivided into 240 grana. In the mainland part of the kingdom, the ducat also replaced the Napoleonic lira.
The subdivision and the coinage of the currency were simplified with respect to the pre-Napoleonic era: only three denominations survived. The ducat proper was the name of the gold coins, and curiously it did not exist as a single unit; the grana (singular: grano) was the name of the silver coins, itself also not existing as a single unit; the tornesel (Italian: tornese) was the name of the copper coins, which were worth half a grana. Accounts were kept in ducats, each of 100 grana or 200 tornesels. [2]
The piastra was the unofficial name of the biggest silver coin, which had a value of 120 grana. When the Italian lira replaced the coinage of the House of Bourbon in 1861, a rate of 1 piastra = 5.1 lire was established.
Copper coins were issued in denominations of 1⁄2, 1, 1+1⁄2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 tornesels, together with silver 5, 10, 20, 60 and 120 grana coins, the largest being unofficially called piastra. Gold coins were issued for 3, 6, 15 and 30 ducats.
The svenska riksdaler was the name of a Swedish coin first minted in 1604. Between 1777 and 1873, it was the currency of Sweden. The daler, like the dollar, was named after the German Thaler. The similarly named Reichsthaler, rijksdaalder, and rigsdaler were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, the Netherlands, and Denmark-Norway, respectively. Riksdaler is still used as a colloquial term for krona, Sweden's modern-day currency.
Kuruş, also gurush, ersh, gersh, grush, grosha, and grosi, are all names for currency denominations in and around the territories formerly part of the Ottoman Empire. The variation in the name stems from the different languages it is used in and the different transcriptions into the Latin alphabet. In European languages, the kuruş was known as the piastre.
The ducat coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around 3.5 grams of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide international acceptance over the centuries. Similarly named silver ducatons also existed. The gold ducat circulated along with the Florentine florin and preceded both the modern British pound sterling and the United States dollar.
The lira was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually form the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. It was subdivided into 100 centesimi, which means "hundredths" or "cents". The lira was also the currency of the Albanian Kingdom from 1941 to 1943.
The rigsdaler was the name of several currencies used in Denmark until 1875. The similarly named Reichsthaler, riksdaler and rijksdaalder were used in Germany and Austria-Hungary, Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. These currencies were often anglicized as rix-dollar or rixdollar.
The Austro-Hungarian gulden was the currency of the lands of the House of Habsburg between 1754 and 1892, when it was replaced by the Austro-Hungarian krone as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the gulden was initially divided into 60 kreuzers. The currency was decimalized in 1857, using the same names for the unit and subunit.
The lira was the currency of the Kingdom of Sardinia between August 6, 1816, and March 17, 1861.
The lira austriaca was the currency of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia.
The Tuscan fiorino was the currency of Tuscany between 1826 and 1859. It was subdivided into 100 quattrini, a local currency made by four denari. There was an additional denomination called the paolo, worth 40 quattrini, in circulation.
The lira was the currency of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until its annexation by Napoleonic France in 1807. After that year, it unofficially remained in circulation thanks to its silver value until the restoration of Tuscan independence in 1814. It was finally abolished in 1826.
The Roman scudo was the currency of the Papal States until 1866. It was subdivided into 100 baiocchi, each of 5 quattrini. Other denominations included the grosso of 5 baiocchi, the carlino of 7+1⁄2 baiocchi, the giulio and paoli both of 10 baiocchi, the testone of 30 baiocchi and the doppia of 3 scudi.
The lira was the currency of the Papal States between 1866 and 1870. It was subdivided into 20 soldi, each of 5 centesimi.
The lira was the distinct currency of Venice until 1848, when it was replaced by the Italian lira. It originated from the Carolingian monetary system used in much of Western Europe since the 8th century CE, with the lira subdivided into 20 soldi, each of 12 denari.
The piastra was the most common silver coin of the mainland Kingdom of Sicily, also known as the Kingdom of Naples.
The piastra was the distinct currency of the Kingdom of Sicily until 1815.
The lira was the currency of the mainland part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, known as the Kingdom of Naples, between 1812 and 1813.
The lira was the distinct currency of Parma before 1802 and again from 1815 to 1859.
The rigsdaler specie was a unit of silver currency used in Norway from 1544, renamed as the speciedaler in 1816 and used until 1873. Norway used a common reichsthaler currency system shared with Denmark, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein until 1873 when the gold standard was implemented in Scandinavia and the German Empire.
The scudo was the currency of the island Kingdom of Sardinia until 1816.
Italy has a long history of different coinage types, which spans thousands of years. Italy has been influential at a coinage point of view: the medieval Florentine florin, one of the most used coinage types in European history and one of the most important coins in Western history, was struck in Florence in the 13th century, while the Venetian sequin, minted from 1284 to 1797, was the most prestigious gold coin in circulation in the commercial centers of the Mediterranean Sea.