TheCoinage of the Republic of Venice include the coins produced by theRepublic of Venice from the late 12th century to 1866.^[1] After this date, coins were still produced inVenice.

From the 16th century, the coinage was made in the very prominently-locatedZecca of Venice, close to theDoge's Palace.

Although there is no information about coinage in what was the Duchy of Venice (a semi-independent entity within theByzantine Empire from which the Republic of Venice originated), ancient historians such asAndrea Dandolo andMarin Sanudo mention that the privilege of coinage was given to Venice by the kings of ItalyRudolph II (in 921) andBerengar 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 emperorsLouis I (814-840) andLothair I (840-855) had been already in circulation before the aforementioned dates. From around 1031, there are records of coins minted under dogeOttone Orseolo, while in 1193-1202Enrico Dandolo issued in Venice the silver coin calledMatapan, named after the Greek promontory.

The most common type of Venetian coin is theducati issued in silver and gold. The gold ducato was later known aszecchino; this had the doge's image receiving the standard from St. Mark on theobverse. Thezecchino had on the reverse Christ within an oval (mandorla), which also contained nine stars. Thezecchini 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.

SeeZecca 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:

• silverducato (or Matapan), minted for the first time between 1193 and 1202; it was one of the firstgrossi.
• soldo, in silver, minted during the reign of dogeFrancesco Dandolo (1328–1339) and dogeGiovanni Gradenigo (1355-1356).
• lira (includinglira Tron), minted from 1472.
• ducato, minted from 1284, with the same weight and title ofFlorence'sflorin. From the 16th century onwards it was calledzecchino.
• giustina, name of different types of silver coins minted under dogeAlvise II Mocenigo in 1572. Agiustina minore ("lesser giustina") was minted underPasquale Cicogna).
• scudo, both in silver and gold. It showed the city's symbol. The goldenscudo was minted for the first time in the 16th century and weighed some 3.40 g
• gazzetta, of the value of 2soldi.
• quartarolo, a small coin with the value of one quarterdenaro, minted for the first time underEnrico Dandolo (1192), and discontinued in 1328.
• tallero, used for overseas trades.

Other types included theosella, 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 thePalazzo della Zecca. The coinage was rigidly controlled by theCouncil of Forty, an assembly with financial-economical tasks, also acting as Supreme Court.

• History of coins in Italy

• Coinage of the Republic of Venice
• Medieval currencies
• Obsolete Italian currencies

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata