Quantcast
  We apologize for any slow response. This will be fixed before October 31st Portal logo
Login/Register
Bactrian Gold Treasure from Afghanistan, coming soon....
/gemstones/king-precious-stones-metals/page_208 - 2
 

Ch. 5: Aurum, Gold

Ch. 5: Aurum, Gold Page of 377 Ch. 5: Aurum, Gold Text size:minus plus Restore normal size   Mail page  Print this page
200 NATURAL HISTORY OF PRECIOUS METALS, &c.
he had to pay to the Latins (his Genoese allies), that he reduced even this miserable quality to 10, and ultimately to 8 carats fine, so that the alloy actually equalled twice the weight of the gold : hence his bezants have now the appearance of mere brass gilt.
The Venetians, amongst the first in mediasval Europe to coin gold (their famous zecchino commencing in the year 1280), though they copied exactly the type of the contem­porary bezant—the Saint presenting the gonfanon of sove­reignty to the kneeling Doge—yet restored its standard to the utmost purity. So did the Florentines in their equally famous fiorino d'oro, issued a few years earlier (1252), taking its title from the fleur-de-lys, la fiorenza, rebus of the city's name, on the reverse ; the type of the obverse being their patron the Baptist ; the coin, " la lega suggel­lata dal Battista." The great Italian cities were to the last honourably jealous about the purity of their gold coinage. Dante finds Maestro Adamo plunged very low in the realms of torment for having forged florins containing merely 3 carats of alloy (the present French standard nearly), at the instigation of the Counts of Romena, who thus made a profit of 12-1/2 per cent, by the falsification. (Inf. xxx.)
The honour of inaugurating the revived coinage of gold in Europe was very nearly falling to the share of England. Only five years after Florence, Henry III., evidently not influenced by her example, in his 41st year (a.d. 1257) issued his gold penny, of the weight of two sterlings (45 grs.), and to pass for twenty. The type, the king seated on a wide throne, holding the sceptre and orb, is unmistakeably an adaptation of the figure of the Saviour on the contemporary bezants of Nicsea. For elegance of
Ch. 5: Aurum, Gold Page of 377 Ch. 5: Aurum, Gold
Suggested Illustrations
Other Chapters you may find useful
Other Books on this topic
bullet Tag
This Page