Money in Sixteenth-Century Florence

Carlo M. Cipolla

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780520335967
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9780520335981
• Topic: Economics
• Subtopic: Public Finance
• Index: Economics

Money in Sixteenth-Century Florence offers a comprehensive analysis of Florence's monetary and financial landscape during a pivotal period shaped by the influx of New World silver, political interference, and economic upheaval. This meticulously researched work delves into the intricate relationship between grand ducal policies, banking crises, and the broader socioeconomic factors influencing the city. By reconstructing a detailed narrative from fragmented and complex archival sources, the author uncovers the nuanced dynamics of Florentine coinage and its broader implications for early modern monetary systems. The book stands as a significant historiographical contribution, bridging the gap between numismatic studies and the interconnected political and economic history of the time. Drawing on an extensive range of archival materials, Money in Sixteenth-Century Florence offers readers a rare and precise account of Florentine mint operations, setting it apart from prior studies limited by gaps in data or dated methodologies. The author not only illuminates the challenges faced by the Florentine mint but also contextualizes these within the broader European monetary landscape, where comparable documentation often remains sparse or incomplete. This rigorous yet accessible study is invaluable to scholars of economic history, early modern Europe, and those interested in the interplay of policy, economics, and society in Renaissance Florence. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.

Many titles in the Voices Revived program are also newly available as ebooks, offered at a discounted price to support wider access to scholarly work.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Tables
• Preface
• CHAPTER ONE Coins: Their Types and Denominations
• CHAPTER TWO The Money of Account
• CHAPTER THREE Silver Coins and the Silver Parity of the Lira
• CHAPTER FOUR Gold Coins
• CHAPTER FIVE Mint Issues
• CHAPTER SIX The Banking Crisis
• Epilogue
• APPENDIX ONE The Description of the Florentine Monetary System in Giuliano de’ Ried’s Cronaca
• APPENDIX TWO The Report of the Commission of 1571
• APPENDIX THREE The Report of the Commission of 1597
• APPENDIX FOUR The Report of the Commission of 1573 on the Exchange
• APPENDIX FIVE The System of Weights of the Florentine Mint and Their Metric Equivalents
• APPENDIX SIX Half-Yearly Data on Gold and Silver Coinages, 1503-32
• APPENDIX SEVEN Half-Yearly Data on Gold, Silver, and Biglione Coinages, 1543-89
• APPENDIX EIGHT Calculation of the Annual Average Volume of Gold and Silver Coinages for Selected Periods, 1543-89
• Bibliography
• Index