Medieval Silver - The Grosso
by Paul Landsberg
Throughout history there seems to be certain coins that are universally accepted (ok, at least after 500 B.C. when coinage was invented). The silver tetradrachms of ancient Greece were succeeded by the silver Roman denarii, and just as the Roman Empire was in it's death throes in Constantinople (currently Istanbul), the silver grosso, issued by the city-state Venice was universally recognized and accepted in trade. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, Serbia, Poland, hungary soon all issued coins bearing a more than casual resemblance!
A fairly nice grosso of Pietro Gradenigo, 1289-1310 A.D. is pictured below. The heavily stylized iconography has deep roots in Byzantine (eastern continuation of the Roman Empire) silver coinage that proceeded the issuance of Venice. Specifically, doge (Pietro) kneeling before St. mark as he receives a flag. The other side depects Christ seated on a throne. Amazingly enough,this same design, with minimal deviation, was used for the next two or three hundred years. Clearly art on coinage as pursued by the ancient Greeks was not encouraged!!
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