1 Osella - Carlo Contarini

The osella was Venice's peculiar substitute for a New Year's gift — doges had traditionally distributed live waterfowl (uccelli, later contracted to oselle) to members of the Great Council, a practice formalized in coin form by Doge Leonardo Loredan in 1521. Each doge commissioned a unique die annually, making the series effectively a run of one-off medallic issues tied to a single reign. Carlo Contarini's tenure was short, lasting only from 1655 until his death later that same year, which sharply limits the number of oselle struck under his name.