Italy:Money

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Contents

Top: six bird's-eye views of cities, including Verona, Naples, Venice, Rome, Genova and Florence. Down either side: eight costumed vignettes, including the Pope and a Roman Cardinal; the Doge and a Venetian councillor; as well as native Neapolitans, Romans, Venetians, Milanese and Genovese.

italy-1676.jpg

History

Italy was politically fragmented, even where lire, soldi and denari were the common units of account silver definitions differed. The Materials bellow are fragmented, an overview will be most welcome.

Florence

A rapid devaluation of the lira took place between 1260 and 1500. The years till 1860 saw, however, only slight degradations:

ital-lira.gif

1260 (35.3g) – 1270 (23.5g) – 1280 (21.4g) – 1300 (19.0g) – 1310 (16.2g) – 1320 (12.8g) – 1330 (14.4g) – 1340 (12.2g) – 1350 (11.5g) – 1360 (11.6g) – 1370 (11.1g) – 1380 (10.6g) – 1390 (9.3g) – 1400 (9.2g) – 1410 (8.8g) –1420 (8.7g) – 1430 (8.6g) – 1440 (7.7g) – 1460 (7.1g) – 1470 (6.9g) – 1480 (6.3g) – 1490 (5.9g) – 1500 (5.6g) – 1530 (5.2g) – 1540 (5.0g) – 1550 (4.5g) – 1710 (4.3g) – 1730 (4.2g) – 1740 (3.9g) – 1780 (3.8g)

Data: R. A. Goldthwaite, The building of Renaissance Florence (Baltimore/ London, 1980), pp. 429-30; M. Bernocchi, Le monete della Repubblica fiorentina (Firenze, 1974-78).

Naples

The Kingdom of Naples belonged to Spain, money was issued under the equation 1 Tari = 2 Carlini = 20 Grani = 120 Cavalli.

Venice

One Ducat corrent had 124 Soldi or 62 Cassetti - te equivalent of 6 Lire, 4 Soldi. The Lira counted 20 Soldi or 10 Cassetti, the Cassetto 2 Soldi accordingly. One Soldo was divisible into 12 Denari. The Denar or Grossetto was the smalles unit.

Literature

  • Schneider, Jürgen/ Schwarzer, Oskar/ Zellfelder, Friedrich/ Denzel, Markus A., Währungen der Welt, vol. vi.: Geld und Währungen in Europa im 18. Jahrhundert (Stuttgart: F. Steiner, 1992), xiv, 322 p.
  • Goldthwaite, R. A., The building of Renaissance Florence (Baltimore/ London, 1980), pp. 429-30.
  • Bernocchi, M., Le monete della Repubblica fiorentina (Firenze, 1974-78).