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12 1/2 Doppie
| Issuer | Republic of Genoa |
|---|---|
| Year | 1638-1711 |
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| Composition | 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 cross patée composed of elaborate fleur-de-lis and foliate ornaments, with a crowned cherub head (mascherone) at each angle of the cross, all within a beaded inner circle. The arms of the Republic of Genoa are alluded to through the foliate cross design. The circumferential legend DVX ET GVBERNATORES REIP GEN runs around the periphery in bold Latin capitals, separated by star punctuations, within a beaded outer border. The overall design is characteristic of the large-module gold multiples struck at the Genoese mint in the seventeenth century. |
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| Additional information |
The 12½ Doppie was among the largest gold coins produced by any Italian republic, issued during a period when Genoa's financial infrastructure — particularly the Casa di San Giorgio — gave the city outsized influence in European credit markets despite its shrinking territorial power. Coins of this denomination functioned less as everyday currency than as instruments of large-scale settlement between merchants and banking houses.
The span of production across seven decades reflects remarkable institutional continuity for a republic that survived repeated French and Habsburg interference. The Casa di San Giorgio, founded in 1407, remained one of the oldest chartered banks in Europe and underwrote much of Genoa's capacity to keep minting at this weight and fineness.