Venice (1268-75) grosso
This specimen was lot 57408 in Stack's Bowers NYINC sale (New York, January 2024), where it sold for $660. The catalog description[1] noted, "ITALY. Venice. Grosso, ND (1268-75). Venice Mint. Lorenzo Tiepolo. NGC MS-64. Obverse: Doge and St. Mark stands facing, holding banner between them; Reverse: Christ enthroned facing." The standard coin of the Middle Ages was the silver penny, derived from the Roman denarius (dinero in Italian). Centuries of debasement had rendered it useless for commercial transactions, so in the thirteenth century the Italian merchant states (especially Venice) introduced the grosso, worth twelve dineri. This spread over Europe and became the gros Tournois (France), groat (England), groschen (Germany) and groot (Low Countries). At this time, one grosso equalled 26 denari.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 1.94-2.18 g, 0.965 fine silver, this specimen 2.17 g.
Catalog reference: Paolucci-1; Biaggi-2278.
- Rafaele Paolucci, La Zecca di Venezia, 2 vols. Padua, 1991.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, January 2024 NYINC Auction, featuring the Emilio M Ortiz Collection and a Symphony of Russian Rarities, the Rothschild-Piatigorsky Collection, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers Galleries, Inc., 2023.
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