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1 Osella - Francesco Morosini
| Issuer | Republic of Venice |
|---|---|
| Year | 1691 |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Saint Mark seated facing left on an ornate throne, robed and nimbed, his right hand raised in benediction and his left hand holding the Gospels, presented before the kneeling Doge Francesco Morosini, who receives the gonfalon — the standard bearing the Lion of Saint Mark — in a gesture of investiture. The scene is rendered in high relief with fine detail characteristic of Venetian medallic art. The legend encircling the field reads S·M·VEN·FRANC MAVROCE·DVX·, with ANNO·IV· and the mintmaster's initials I·B· inscribed in the exergue, denoting the fourth year of the Doge's reign. |
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| Obverse lettering | ·S·M·VEN·FRANC MAVROCE·DVX· ·ANNO·IV· ·I·B· |
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The osella was Venice's answer to an awkward annual tradition: doges had long distributed live wildfowl to members of the Great Council each January, a practice that became logistically untenable as the Council grew. The coins substituted for the birds — "osella" derives from the word for the fowl — and Francesco Morosini, elected doge in 1688, used his issues to commemorate the remarkable reconquest of the Peloponnese, which he personally commanded before taking office.
Morosini remains the last Venetian commander to have won a significant territorial expansion for the Republic. The 1691 issue falls mid-reign, three years before his death in Nafplio while still on active campaign.