sequin (coin)
{{Short description|Venetian gold coin}}
{{one source|date=May 2022}}
File:Italian States-Venice (1779-89) 50 Zecchini.jpg (1779–89), penultimate Doge of Venice. This denomination (on average) weighs {{Convert|192.5|g|ozt}} and measures {{Convert|76|mm|in}}.{{Cite book |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=tXSrLbIEDBMC |title =Standard Catalog of World Gold Coins 1601–present |edition =6 |publisher =Krause |isbn =978-1-4402-0424-1 |editor-last =Cuhaj |editor-first =George S. |year =2009 |page =952 }}]]
The sequin ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|k|w|ɪ|n}} {{respell|SEE|kwin}}) or zechin ({{IPA|vec|(d)zeˈkiŋ|lang|small=no|link=yes}}; {{langx|it|zecchino}} {{IPA|it|tsekˈkiːno, dzekˈkiːno|}}) was a gold coin minted by the Republic of Venice from 1284.
The design of the Venetian gold ducat, or {{lang|it|zecchino}}, remained unchanged for over 500 years, from its introduction in 1284 to the takeover of Venice by Napoleon in 1797.
The reverse bears a motto in Latin hexameter: {{lang|la|Sit tibi, Christe, datus // quem tū regis, iste ducātus}} ("Christ, let this duchy that you rule be given to you").
History
{{see also|History of coins in Italy}}
The coin was initially called the "ducat" ({{lang|it|ducato}}), after the ruling Doge of Venice who was prominently depicted on it. From 1543, it was called the {{lang|it|zecchino}}, after the Zecca (mint) of Venice. The name of the mint ultimately derives from {{langx|ar|سكّة}} ({{lang|ar-Latn|sikka}}), meaning a coin mould or die.
In some regions, in later centuries, this type of coin was stitched to women's clothing such as headdresses – this eventually led to the origin of the more modern word "sequins" to denote small shiny, circular decorations.
This Venetian coin was imitated throughout the Mediterranean—by the Byzantine basilikon (c. 1304), the Ottoman Empire (1478), and the Knights Hospitaller of Malta (1535). The Ottoman and the Maltese coins were also gold.
See also
Further reading
- [http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Hyphen/Hyphen.%203(1982)6/01.pdf Zecchini (Sequin) by the Knights Hospitallers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122034010/http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Hyphen/Hyphen.%203(1982)6/01.pdf|date=2019-01-22 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Wiktionary|sequin}}
{{Commons and category|Zecchino|Sequin (coin)}}
- {{Cite Americana |wstitle =Sequin |short =x }}
- {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle =Sequin |short =x }}
- [http://www.treasurerealm.com/coinpapers/dictionary/dictionary.html The Dictionary of Coin Denominations]
{{Historic Italian currency and coinage}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sequin (Coin)}}
{{Portal bar|Numismatics}}
Category:Coinage of the Republic of Venice