1/2 Doppia

The Doppia and its half were introduced by Genoa in the early sixteenth century as the republic scrambled to produce gold coinage competitive with the Spanish and Venetian issues flooding Mediterranean trade routes. The half Doppia of this particular emission, struck across the doge-ships of several consecutive administrations between 1541 and 1554, reflects the period when Genoa's financial power was reaching its apex — largely because Andrea Doria's 1528 constitutional settlement had stabilized the republic's internal factions sufficiently to support coherent monetary policy.

Genoese banking families of this decade were the primary creditors of the Spanish crown, and the Doppia series circulated as much through ledger transfers and credit instruments as through physical exchange.