THE DUCAT The Venetian golden ducat was coined from 1284 on. Venice had already coined a currency independent from the imperial concession for some time (from mid 12th century at least), an evident seal on its own independence. Before it, Florence, the native town of Giotto, had coined the florin in 1252. What is the importance of these coins? From the end of the Roman Empire, there had not been any emission of a golden coin ,neither of coins having the function of currency of reference for the economy. Emperors had tried the coinage of money whose value was not rapidly devaluated in time, but the monetary uncertainty continued. It was, in fact, the coinage of the florin first, followed by that of the ducat, currencies containing the same amount of gold (3,54 grams at 24 carats), that allowed the economy, especially those activities tied to international business, to remain anchored to a solid currency, a reference point. It’s the function that the dollar has today, and, before, it had the pound. The florin and the ducat, that later (in 1561) was called sequin, for centuries fulfilled this task. In particular, the ducat remained unaltered in weight and title until 1797, the year in which the Republic of Venice ceased to be independent. Years after its end, the ducat was still circulating and accepted as currency.