First gold florin struck in Florence
1252
The Florentine commune minted a gold coin stamped with the city's lily and the image of Saint John the Baptist. At 3.5 grams of fine gold, the florin became the standard currency of European trade, displacing Byzantine bezants and Muslim dinars from the ledgers of Italian bankers. Its reliable purity made it the dollar of medieval Europe, accepted from London to Constantinople without question.
In context
Also in 1252 (3 other events on record)
- Innocent IV authorizes torture for Inquisition · Europe · Religion
- Alfonso X the Wise becomes King of Castile · Europe · Politics
- Inquisition in Languedoc intensifies under Dominicans · Europe · Religion
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Politics
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources