The Tuscan fiorino (plural: ''fiorini'') was the

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

between 1826 and 1859. It was subdivided into 100 quattrini ( singular: ''quattrino''), a local currency made by four denari (from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''quater denarii''). There was an additional denomination called the paolo, worth 40 quattrini, in circulation.

History

During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, Tuscany was annexed by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and 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 ...

was introduced, together with its satellite

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 ...

. The previous lira did not disappear, creating a big confusion between the old Tuscan lira and the new Italian lira. So, when

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

Leopold II rose to power in 1824, he decided to introduce a new basic currency. The fiorino replaced the

Tuscan lira The lira (plural: ''lire'') was the currency of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until its annexation by Napoleonic France in 1807. After that year, it unofficially remained in circulation thanks to its silver value until the restoration of Tuscan ind ...

at a rate of lire = 1 fiorino.This fact was quite obvious, because the pound was equivalent to 240 denari or 60 quattrini, while the fiorino was equivalent to 100 quattrini or 400 denari. In 1847, Tuscany absorbed

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 ...

and the fiorino replaced the Luccan lira at a rate of 1 fiorino = 2 lire. After a brief revolutionary coinage, the fiorino was replaced in 1859 by a provisional currency denominated in "

", equal to the Sardinian lira, with 1 fiorino = 1.4 Italian lire.

Coins

Copper coins were struck in denominations of 1 and 3 quattrini, together with billon 5 and 10 quattrini, silver , 1 and 5 paolo, , , 1 and 4 fiorini. Gold coins included the

sequin A sequin () is a small, typically shiny, generally disk-shaped ornament. Sequins are also referred to as paillettes, spangles, or ''diamanté'' (also spelled ''diamante''). Although the words sequins, paillettes, lentejuelas, and spangles can ...

(

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''zecchino''), ''ruspone'' and 80 fiorini, the latter two equalled 3 and 10 sequins respectively.

References

External links

{{Guilder, state=collapsed Currencies of Italy Modern obsolete currencies 1826 establishments in Italy 1859 disestablishments 19th-century economic history 1826 establishments in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany