Catalog
2 Soldi
| Issuer | Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands (1363-1797) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1710-1797 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | 26.5 mm |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Three-line inscription filling the field, naming the three principal Ionian Islands under Venetian dominion: CORFV (Corfu), CEFALON (Cephalonia), and ZANTE (Zakynthos), each on a separate line in bold Roman capitals. A small six-petalled rosette ornament appears above the uppermost line and a second rosette below the lowermost line, serving as decorative stops. The lettering is boldly engraved in a plain, unbordered field typical of Venetian colonial copper coinage of the period. No portrait or additional device is present; the entire design is typographic in character. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Latin |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Ionian Islands — Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, and the rest — operated as a distinct administrative zone within Venice's maritime empire, and their coinage reflected that separateness. This 2 Soldi was struck not in Venice proper but for local circulation across the islands, where Venetian authority persisted long after Ottoman pressure had eliminated most of the Republic's other eastern possessions. By the mid-eighteenth century, these islands represented nearly the last of Venice's once-vast Levantine holdings.
The series ran until 1797, the year Napoleon's Treaty of Campo Formio extinguished the Serenissima entirely after over a millennium of continuous existence.