The Bolognino was a coin minted in
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
and other cities of medieval Italy from the late 12th century to the 17th century.
The coin originated in 1191, when emperor
Henry VI granted Bologna the right to mint a silver
denaro. In 1236 this unit was rechristened ''Bolognino piccolo'' (''Small Bolognino'') when the ''Bolognino grosso'' (''Big Bolognino'') was introduced, with the value of a 12 ''
soldi
"Soldi" (; ) is a song recorded by Italian singer Mahmood. It was released on 6 February 2019, as the fifth single from his debut studio album, ''Gioventù bruciata'' (2019). Mahmood co-wrote the song with Dario "Dardust" Faini and Charlie Cha ...
''. It weighed 1.41 g of silver.
The ''grosso'' was adopted in other Italian communes and cities, such as
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...
and
Rimini
Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...
and copied by other mints, such as those of
Lucca
Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957.
Lucca is known as one o ...
,
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and other cities in
Abruzzo
Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...
and
Marche
Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...
. The value changed depending from the current political and economic situation. In the late 15th century
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...
, for instance, the value of a ''bolognino'' was 18 silver ''denari''. The initial imperial dedication was later replaced by that to Bolognese ruling families, such as the
Pepoli
The Pepoli are an aristocratic banking family of Bologna, in northern Italy. They were lords of the city for thirteen years in the fourteenth century.
A branch of the family moved to Trapani in Sicily and were granted several feudal lordships and ...
and the
Visconti
Visconti is a surname which may refer to:
Italian noble families
* Visconti of Milan, ruled Milan from 1277 to 1447
** Visconti di Modrone, collateral branch of the Visconti of Milan
* Visconti of Pisa and Sardinia, ruled Gallura in Sardinia from ...
. In the 16th century, when the city fell under
Papal control, it showed the papal bust and the city's coat of arms.
The ''bolognino'' was no longer struck starting from the 18th century. Multiples up to 100 ''bolognini'' continued to exist, however.
A golden ''bolognino'', introduced in 1380, had the value of 30 silver ''bolognini'' (same title and weight of the Papal ''
ducato''.
{{commons category, Bolognino
Currencies of Italy
Modern obsolete currencies
History of Bologna