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1 Sesino - Doge Francesco Donato
| Issuer | Republic of Venice |
|---|---|
| Year | 1545-1553 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | Central device depicts the winged lion of Saint Mark passant, facing left, set within an oval or mandorla-shaped frame, rendered in the bold but somewhat crude style characteristic of hammered Venetian small change. The surrounding Latin legend SANCTVS MARCVS VENET encircles the field, invoking the patron saint of Venice. The treatment of the lion's mane and wings shows typical mid-sixteenth-century Venetian engraving conventions for low-denomination billon issues. |
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| Additional information |
Francesco Donato's dogeship was overshadowed almost entirely by the ongoing Ottoman pressure on Venice's eastern holdings — Tripoli fell in 1551, and the republic's Mediterranean footing was visibly contracting. The sesino was the workhorse of small Venetian commerce, a billon fraction that circulated hard through the Rialto markets and the terraferma towns. Most surviving examples are worn to near-illegibility for exactly that reason.