406, Lot: 886. Estimate $500. Sold for $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Firenze. Repubblica. 1189-1532. AV Fiorino d’oro (20mm, 3.52 g, 9h). Segno: two-handled lamp. Lapo di Niccoló, maestro d’oro, 1st semester 1343. Ornate lily of Florence / Saint John the Baptist standing facing, holding cross-tipped scepter decorated with pellet and raising right hand in benediction. Bernocchi 1503; MIR 9/31; Biaggi 787. VF, scrape on obverse, slightly bent.

The Fiorino d’oro – known in English as the gold Florin – was introduced in 1252, and depicted on its obverse the lily, symbol of Florence, and on the reverse a figure of St. John. At the time, Mediterranean trade was dominated by the bezant, a colloquial name for the gold dinars of the various Islamic and Crusader states. But the Fiorino, proving to be a sound and reliable coin, soon overcame the bezants in popularity, thus becoming the first European gold trade coinage since Roman times. The type was imitated throughout Europe, with vast numbers struck not only in Florence, but in Hungary, France, and Spain as well. These early imitations generally conformed to the lily/Saint type, with later issues gradually developing more local types, while still retaining the Florentine weight standard.