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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TypeCoin971793, post: 3316900, member: 78244&quot;]In the Aurora Numismatica auction today, I just won a coin that I was extremely excited about and had been after for several months now. It is a Fiorino struck in Florence sometime between 1237 and 1250, though likely due to the style (which I will elaborate on later) it was made in 1237 or shortly thereafter. Arguably, this coin can be considered the very first Florin.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]879299[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Historical Context:</p><p><br /></p><p>Throughout the 12th Century, Florence became an increasingly-wealthy and powerful city-state in Italy. Despite Florence’s economic growth, its neighbors surpassed Florence in wealth and power. Florence had no mint of its own, so it relied heavily upon the coinage of its neighbors Pisa and Lucca. The denari struck in these cities had degraded over the past couple of centuries to the point that they were poorly-struck, ugly coins made out of extremely-debased silver by the 13th Century.</p><p><br /></p><p>An early Denaro of Lucca:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]879306[/ATTACH]</p><p>A 13th-Century Denaro of Lucca:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]879307[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Between 1232 and 1237, someone began privately striking coins in Florence as an attempt to replace the wretched coins currently in circulation. (Some say that the earliest of these were struck in 1182, but no extant record can confirm this; most pre-1200 documents of the public Archives were burned by Gualtieri Duca.) These coins were struck in good silver, were well-styled, and were produced with good workmanship. On the obverse was a Fleur-de-Lis, the symbol of Florence, and the name of the city, FLORENTIA. On the reverse is a portrait of St. John with the inscription S. IONANNES B. The portrait of St. John on these has a very distinct style that seems to be somewhat reminiscent of the portraits on contemporary coins from other areas.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 1237, Florence became a free municipality independent of the Marquisate of Tuscany, and an official mint was established shortly thereafter. It is at this point we see the earliest reference to a “Fiorino” in a manuscript alluding to a silver coinage being struck in Florence, meaning that the official coinage began at this time. The value of these coins was set at 12 denari of Lucca. Though the fiorino was very faithful to the “prototype,” the reverse portrait of St. John was refined with a very artistic style that had a realism not seen on other contemporary coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>This new coin proved to be very popular in Florence and its neighbors because of its good silver and attractive appearance. However, as Florence became more involved with trade, it became apparent that a much higher-value coin was needed. In 1252, Florence began striking gold fiorinos at a value of 1 gold fiorino per 20 silver fiorinos. These were struck with a very high fineness of gold and high level of artistry. This ratio was maintained for a couple decades until the silver florin began degrading (and silver itself began depreciating with respect to gold). by 1300, the ratio was 47/1, and by 1500 it was 147/1. The gold fiorino maintained its purity and quality for several centuries and became the dominant means of trade throughout Europe, being imitated in many different countries. The use of the name “Fiorino” or “Florin” continued into the 20th Century, showing just how much of an impact this little silver coin had on the economy of Europe.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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