Owner Comments:
ND(1252-1303) Fiorino d'oro (Florin) - Design: OBVERSE: Heraldic lily with three petals and two stamins. Legend: ?FLORENTIA ~ REVERSE: A nimbate St. John the Baptist in a belted shirt and skin cape, standing with his right hand raised, holding a cross-sceptre in his left hand. Legend: •S•JOHANNES•B•
Mint: Florence
Mintage: Unknown
References: Fr.275, Bernocchi 105 var.
Specifications: Diameter – 20.0 mm
Weight – 3.530 g. @ 0.9860 Gold = .1107 oz AGW
Acquired: February 2009
Providence: None
Notes:
Ø The 1st of the Italian gold coins introduced in the late middle ages. Preceded the Genoa Genovino in the same year 1252 and the Venetian Ducat by 32 years.
Ø Florence was one of the largest communties in Europe, with a population of over 60,000. The basis of its economy was its high quality cloth industry and primarily trade and banking.
Ø Saint John The Baptist is the patron saint of Florence and a lily the arms of the city.
Ø The design was taken from existing silver coinage, as was the name fiorino. The coin was minted of 3.53 grams of .986 gold (the purest made at the time). These specifications and the design of the fiorino was produced virtually unaltered until the end of the Florentine Republic in 1531. From 1300, the officials responsible for the coinage placed their marks on the reverse beside the head of St John. From 1422, the flan was broadened
Ø The Fiorino d’oro (Florin) was widely accepted throughout Europe and thus became the progenitor of many European gold coins. The Florin became the most imitated coin throughout Europe; imitated by minting authorities from Spain through France, the Netherlands and Germany to Hungary, and this design type became one of the most popular trading coins throughout Europe.