Soldino of 12 denari

Florence minted the soldino series to address chronic shortages of small silver coinage that repeatedly disrupted retail trade in the mid-fifteenth century. The .500 fineness reflects a deliberate compromise — pure enough to circulate with credibility, debased enough to keep production economically viable for the mint. By the 1460s, Florentine monetary policy was increasingly shaped by the Medici banking apparatus, whose continental exchange operations made domestic small change almost a secondary concern.

MIR 94 corresponds to a narrow eight-year window, and surviving examples tend to show heavy circulation wear given the denomination's everyday use.