Catalog
1 Ducat - Hieronymus Sauli
| Issuer | Caffa, City of |
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| Year | 1436-1499 |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse depicts a standing figure of the Doge kneeling before Saint Mark, in the style of the Venetian ducat tradition. To the left stands the nimbed figure of Saint Mark, shown full-length in flowing robes and holding a long staff or banner; to the right, a smaller kneeling figure of the issuing authority receives a standard or vexillum. A cross appears at the top center of the field between the two figures. The Latin legend encircles the design, reading the name and title of Hieronymus Sauli as governor of Caffa. |
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| Reverse lettering | · SIT · T XP . E DLT Q · TV REGIS ISTE D.T. |
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| Additional information |
Caffa — modern Feodosia in Crimea — was the Genoese republic's most lucrative Black Sea trading post, handling the bulk of overland Silk Road goods arriving from Central Asia. The city minted its own gold ducats in conscious imitation of Venetian issues to ease commercial exchange with merchants who trusted that format implicitly. Hieronymus Sauli served as Genoese administrator of the colony during a period when Ottoman pressure was already squeezing Genoese influence throughout the eastern Mediterranean — Caffa itself fell to Mehmed II's forces in 1475, ending Genoese control permanently.
Any example struck after 1475 would have been produced under Ottoman suzerainty, a detail that complicates attribution within the 1436–1499 range.