Venetian Ducat Gold Coin

Timeline

1. 1284–1300Venice · VeniceThe Republic of Venice issued a standardized gold ducat at the St. Mark's Mint, matching the fineness and weight of the Florentine florin, with the Gospel of St. Mark and a Christ figure as its signature motifs; it quickly became the settlement currency of eastern Mediterranean trade routes.
2. 1321–1330Venice · VeniceIn the early 14th century Venice and Genoa vied for dominance over Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean trade; the ducat was minted in large quantities as hard currency for the republic's fiscal and naval spending and circulated with merchant ships to Crimea, Egypt, and Syrian ports, supporting the spice and slave trades.
3. c. 1350–1600Alexandria · AlexandriaThrough Venice's trading-post network the ducat penetrated the Levant and the Balkans, and was widely accepted by the Mamluk Sultanate, remnant Byzantine powers, and later Ottoman merchants, becoming a universal gold coin across religious boundaries.
4. c. 1600–1797Venice · VeniceIn the 17th and 18th centuries the ducat continued to be used as a trade gold coin by European states and the Ottoman Empire, but Venice's maritime dominance declined; after Napoleon ended the republic in 1797 the ducat ceased to be minted as legal tender, and was later issued only as a commemorative coin.