Coinage of the Republic of Venice

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, the mint of Venice.

History

Although there are no informations about the coinage in what was the Duchy of Venice (a semi-independent entity within the Byzantine Empire from which later the Republic of Venice originated), ancient historians such as Andrea Dandolo and Marin Sanudo mentions 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 are mentioned 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 (in particular in the silver and gold ducati[3]) had the doge's image received 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 did not change from the first issue, in 1284, to the last one, during the reign of the last doge of Venice in 1796, Ludovico Manin.

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 Quarantia, an assembly with financial-economical tasks, also acting as Supreme Court.

References