Forint

The florin, the currency of Florence during the Renaissance

The fiorino is a 3.54 g gold coin minted in Florence for the first time in 1252 after the Battle of Montalcino against Siena. The name derives from the lily (flos in Latin) shown on the obverse of the coin, heraldic symbol of the Municipality of Florence; on the reverse appears Saint John, the patron saint of the city.

A fundamental characteristic of the florin, linked to the commercial power of Florence, is the return of the great gold coinage in Western Europe after the long prevalence of silver following Charlemagne's monetary reform. Gold was in fact necessary for trade with the East and North Africa, from which much of the precious metal came.

Starting from its introduction and throughout the Renaissance, thanks to the economic strength of Florence, the florin became one of the commonly accepted currencies throughout Europe. With similar motivations, other commercial powers issued similar gold coins, such as the zecchino of Venice and the genovino of Genoa.

In 1296 Florence also minted a silver coin called popolino, with a value of 2 soldi or 1/20 of the gold florin; a small florin was also minted with a value equal to that of the denier, i.e. 1/12 of the soldo.

The 3.49 g gold florin was also minted in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany under Peter Leopold of Lorraine, Ferdinand III and Leopold II. In the rest of Europe the name passed to other monetary traditions: among the English coins a gold florin appeared and then a silver two-shilling coin; in Dutch coins the guilder remained in use until 2002; in Hungary it survives in the name of forint.