The Coinage of the Republic of Venice include the coins produced by the Republic of Venice from the late 12th century to 1866. [1] After this date, coins were still produced in Venice.
From the 16th century, the coinage was made in the very prominently-located Zecca of Venice, close to the Doge's Palace.
Although there is no information about coinage in what was the Duchy of Venice (a semi-independent entity within the Byzantine Empire from which the Republic of Venice originated), ancient historians such as Andrea Dandolo and Marin Sanudo mention that the privilege of coinage was given to Venice by the kings of Italy Rudolph II (in 921) and Berengar II (in 950); however, it is more likely that this privilege had been granted by Byzantine emperors, [2] as coins with the names of Venice and the name of German emperors Louis I (814-840) and Lothair I (840-855) had been already in circulation before the aforementioned dates. From around 1031, there are records of coins minted under doge Ottone Orseolo, while in 1193-1202 Enrico Dandolo issued in Venice the silver coin called Matapan , named after the Greek promontory.
The most common type of Venetian coin is the ducati issued in silver and gold. The gold ducato was later known as zecchino ; this had the doge's image receiving the standard from St. Mark on the obverse. The zecchino had on the reverse Christ within an oval (mandorla), which also contained nine stars. The zecchini remained unchanged from the first issue, in 1284, to the last one, during the reign of the last doge of Venice in 1796, Ludovico Manin.
See Zecca of Venice for the organization and operations of the mint in the Renaissance and the remaining centuries of the Venetian Republic.
The main coins minted during the Republic of Venice include:
Other types included the osella, a medal-coin awarded by the doge to the Republic's main personalities.
The mint of the Republic's coins was located in Venice, in the Palazzo della Zecca. The coinage was rigidly controlled by the Council of Forty, an assembly with financial-economical tasks, also acting as Supreme Court.
Enrico Dandolo was the doge of Venice from 1192 until his death. He is remembered for his avowed piety, longevity, and shrewdness, and is known for his role in the Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople. Dandolo died in 1205 in Constantinople and was buried at the Hagia Sophia.
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 sequin is a gold coin minted by the Republic of Venice from the 13th century onwards.
The scudo is the official currency of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and was the currency of Malta during the rule of the Order over Malta, which ended in 1798. It is subdivided into 12 tarì, each of 20 grani with 6 piccioli to the grano. It is pegged to the euro.
The lira austriaca was the currency of the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia.
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 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 scudo was the currency of Milan until 1806. It was subdivided into 6 lire, each of 20 soldi or 240 denari.
The lira was the distinct currency of Parma before 1802 and again from 1815 to 1859.
The Papal Mint is the pope's institute for the production of hard cash. Papal Mint also refers to the buildings in Avignon, Rome, and elsewhere that used to house the mint.
The Venetian grosso is a silver coin first introduced in Venice in 1193 under doge Enrico Dandolo. It originally weighed 2.18 grams, was composed of 98.5% pure silver, and was valued at 26 denarii. Its name is from the same root as groschen and the English groat, all deriving ultimately from the denaro grosso.
Giovanni Dandolo was the 48th Doge of Venice, elected late in his life on 31 March 1280. He died on 2 November 1289. During his reign, the first Venetian gold ducat was introduced into circulation.
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.
The basilikon, commonly also referred to as the doukaton, was a widely circulated Byzantine silver coin of the first half of the 14th century. Its introduction marked the return to a wide-scale use of silver coinage in the Byzantine Empire, and presaged the total abandonment of the gold coins around the middle of the century.
The Zecca is a sixteenth-century building in Venice, Italy which once housed the mint of the Republic of Venice. Built between 1536 and 1548, the heavily rusticated stone structure, originally with only two floors, was designed by Jacopo Sansovino in place of an earlier mint specifically to ensure safety from fire and to provide adequate security for the silver and gold deposits. Giorgio Vasari considered it the finest, richest, and strongest of Sansovino's buildings.
The Genoese lira was the currency of the Republic of Genoa until 1797.
This is an alphabetical index of people, places, things, and concepts related to or originating from the Republic of Venice. Feel free to add more, and create missing pages.
The 1 lira cent, commonly called centesimino, was the smallest denomination of Italian lira coins. Like the contemporary 2, 5 and 10 cent coins, it was made of a bronze alloy composed of 960‰ copper and 40‰ tin. The 1-cent coins were minted between 1861 and 1918, only to be withdrawn from circulation in 1924.
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