The genovino was a gold coin used in 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 ...

from 1252 to 1415.

History

New supplies of gold arrived in Western Europe from

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, via caravans from the

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, which allowed

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

and Genoa to inaugurate, from the 13th century, the minting of these currencies. The ''genovino'' was issued in

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 ...

for the first time in 1252, shortly before the Florentine currency, and will be issued until 1415. Next to the ''genovino'' are also struck values equivalent to its eighth ''(ottavino)'' and its quarter (''quartarola).'' The coin had a weight of of 24 carats (i.e. pure gold) and its diameter is approximately . Its

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''o ...

represented the door of a castle, typical of medieval Genoese coins, and around the inscription + IANUA, that means door in

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 ...

which resonates like the name of the city, and which had already been used in the first currencies. After 1339, with

Simone Boccanegra Simone Boccanegra (; lij, Scimon Boccaneigra ; died 1363) was the first Doge of Genoa. He became doge in 1339, but was ousted from power six years later. He regained the position in 1356, retaining it until his death in 1363. His story was popu ...

, the first

Doge of Genoa The Doge of Genoa ( lij, Dûxe, ; la, Januensium dux et populi defensor, "Commander of the Genoese and Defender of the People") was the ruler of the Republic of Genoa, a city-state and soon afterwards a maritime republic, from 1339 until the s ...

, the doge's indication began with the inscription: X ''DVX IANVENSIVM PRIMVS''.

References

Republic of Genoa Obsolete Italian currencies Medieval currencies Coins of Italy {{Coin-stub