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The Genoese lira ( it, Lira genovese) was the currency of the
Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...
until 1797.


History

The mint in the Republic of Genoa began its production around 1138, with coins introduced in line with similar versions issued in the rest of Europe, as follows: * The silver '' denaro'' in 1138, containing 1.06 grams of 1/3 fine silver (or 84.8 g fine silver in a lira); * The silver '' grosso'' in 1172 worth 4 ''denari'', of 1.4 g 23/24 of fine silver (or 80.5 g fine silver in a lira); * The gold '' Genovino d'oro'' in 1252, at about the same time as the Florentine
florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...
; of 3.5 g fine gold, and worth 1/2 lira (each lira worth either 7 g fine gold or 70 g fine silver); * The ''testone'' or 1-lira coin before 1500, containing about 13 g of 23/24 fine silver (or 12.5g fine). It was the highest-valued Italian coin unit in the end of the 15th century. Genoese currency became important in the 16th century during the Golden age of Genoese banking, with the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
funnelling its massive wealth from
Spanish America Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' Spanish Empire, imperial era between 15th century, 15th ...
through the
Bank of Saint George The Bank of Saint George ( it, Casa delle compere e dei banchi di San Giorgio or informally as ''Ufficio di San Giorgio'' or ''Banco'') was a financial institution of the Republic of Genoa. It was founded in 1407 to consolidate the public debt ...
.
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
then introduced new coins, namely: * The large ''scudo d'argento'', copying the Milanese ''
ducaton The ducaton, ducatone or ducatoon was a Crown (British coin), crown-sized silver coin of the 16th-18th centuries. The first ducaton-type coin was the Italian scudo, scudo known as the 'ducatone da soldi cento' (of 100 soldi), issued by Charles V, ...
'', with 36.64 g fine silver, and worth 4 ''lire'' as of 1602; * The gold ''scudo d'oro'', copying the ''
Spanish escudo The escudo was either of two distinct Spanish currency denominations. Gold escudo The first escudo was a gold coin introduced in 1535/1537, with coins denominated in escudos issued until 1833. It was initially worth 16 '' reales''. When differ ...
'', with 3.026 g fine gold, and also worth 4 ''lire'' as of 1602; * The gold ''doppio'' or 2-scudo coin, also known as the
doubloon The doubloon (from Spanish ''doblón'', or "double", i.e. ''double escudo'') was a two-''escudo'' gold coin worth approximately $4 (four Spanish dollars) or 32 '' reales'', and weighing 6.766 grams (0.218 troy ounce) of 22-karat gold (or 0.917 fi ...
or
pistole Pistole is the French name given to a Spanish gold coin in use from 1537; it was a doubloon or double escudo, the gold unit. The name was also given to the Louis d'Or of Louis XIII of France, and to other European gold coins of about the value ...
. With the decline in the fortunes of the Genoese banks and the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
in the 17th century, however, the Genoese lira also depreciated substantially. The silver scudo's value increased to 6.5 lire in 1646, 7.4 lire in 1671, and 8.74 lire just before the Austrian occupation of Genoa in 1746. The lira in existence from the 12th century was later called the lira ''moneta buona'' (good money) or lira ''fuori banco'' (outside the bank) to disambiguate from the huge array of auxiliary units used by Genoa's banking industry to account for various currencies brought there over the centuries. Each lira or unit below also divided into 20 soldi or 240 denari; the various units are as follows: Description of units https://books.google.com/books?id=MJnPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA156#v=onepage&q&f=false * The lira ''moneta buona'' or lira ''fuori banco'', with 4.19 g fine silver in 1746; * The ''lira banco'' worth 1.15 lire, the accounting unit of deposits in the
Bank of Saint George The Bank of Saint George ( it, Casa delle compere e dei banchi di San Giorgio or informally as ''Ufficio di San Giorgio'' or ''Banco'') was a financial institution of the Republic of Genoa. It was founded in 1407 to consolidate the public debt ...
, and also dividing into ''soldi banco'' and ''denari banco''; * The ''lira moneta di paghi'' worth 1.214 lire for counting
Spanish dollar The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight ( es, Real de a ocho, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content ...
s, and the ''lira di cartulario'' worth 1.942 lire for accounting bullion sales (the various units tied up as follows: Scudo d'Argento = 8.74 lire = 7.6 lire banco = 7.2 lire ''moneta di paghi'' = 4.5 lire ''di cartulario''); * Other units used for exchange quotations: the ''pezza'' worth 5.75 lire, the ''Scudo d'Argento'' worth 8.74 lire, the ''Scudo d'Oro'' worth 10.81 lire, and the ''Scudo di Cambio'' worth 4.6 lire; each of these units also divide into ''soldi'' and ''denari''. After the 1746 siege the Genoese lira was devalued with the ''scudo d'argento'' rising from 8.74 to 9.5 lire (or 3.86 g fine silver in a lira). When the period of the Republic ended in 1797, the one lira coin weighed 4.16 g at 8/9 fine, equal to 3.70 g fine silver or 0.239 g fine gold. From 1797 the Genoese lira and all its auxiliary units were replaced by the
French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...
, and afterwards the
Italian lira The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...
. However, the
Mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
of
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
remained in operation by issuing coins until 1860.


References

{{Republic of Genoa Republic of Genoa Currencies of Italy Obsolete Italian currencies Medieval currencies Coins of Italy