In southern Italy, the ''oncia'' (plural ''oncie'' or ''once'') or ''onza'' (pl. ''onze'') was a

unit of account In economics, unit of account is one of the money functions. A unit of account is a standard numerical monetary unit of measurement of the market value of goods, services, and other transactions. Also known as a "measure" or "standard" of rela ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

and later a

gold coin A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Most gold coins minted since 1800 are 90–92% gold (22karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, and American Buf ...

minted between 1732 and 1860. It was also minted in the southern Italian territories of 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 ...

, and a silver coin of the same value was minted by the Knights of Malta. The name is derived from the ancient Roman '' uncia''. It may sometimes be translated ounce. In the medieval kingdoms of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, one ''oncia'' was equivalent to 30 ''

tarì A tarì (from Arabic طري ''ṭarī'', lit. "fresh" or "newly minted money") was the Christian designation of a type of gold coin of Islamic origin minted in Sicily, Malta and Southern Italy from about 913 to the 13th century. History In th ...

'', 600 ''grani'' and 3600 ''denari'' (pennies). Conventionally, a sum of money is indicated by numbers of ''oncie'', ''tarì'', ''grani'' and ''denari'' separated by full stops, thus 2.2.15.1 indicates 2 ''oncie'', two ''tarì'', 15 ''grani'' and 1 ''denaro''. Although the ''oncia'' was never minted in the Middle Ages, it was the basic unit of account. The lesser denominations were minted, as was the ducat (six of which equalled an ''oncia'') and the ''

carlino Carlino ( fur, Cjarlins) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about south of Udine. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,816 and ...

'' (60 to the ''oncia'').Eleni Sakellariou, ''Southern Italy in the Late Middle Ages: Demographic, Institutional and Economic Change in the Kingdom of Naples, c.1440–c.1530'' (Brill, 2012), p. 492. Frederick II introduced the ''

augustalis An augustalis or augustale, also agostaro, was a gold coin minted in the Kingdom of Sicily beginning in 1231. It was issued by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (from 1220) and King of Sicily (from 1198), and was minted until his death in 1250. I ...

'', which was a quarter of an ''oncia''.Donald Matthew, ''The Norman Kingdom of Sicily'' (Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. xi.

Notes

{{reflist Gold coins Medieval currencies Obsolete Italian currencies Kingdom of Sicily History of the Kingdom of Naples