13th Century

The Venetian grosso (plural grossi) is a silver coin first introduced in Venice in 1193 under doge Enrico Dandolo. Upon its conception, the Venetian Grosso contained 98.5% pure silver – the purest silver coin in medieval metallurgy. These coins played a significant role in the economic prosperity of Venice, especially in international trade and funding of the crusade wars. Before the introduction of silver Grossi, Venice struck silver Denari based on the coinage of Verona that contained less silver of lesser quality. These Veronese counterparts were used primarily for domestic trade. For foreign trade, Venetian merchants preferred Byzantine coins or coins minted in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was not until Doge Enrico Donaldo that the coinage of the Venetian Republic was reformed and improved. He introduced a higher denomination of fine silver called a Grosso. The name came from the term Denaro Grosso (large penny), also known as the Matapan, the Muslim name for it. These new Grossi had major advantages over the older denominations, their minting and handling cost was lower and the higher purity of silver made the suitable for international trade.