A supposititious lira di grossi was taken and divided into 40 soldi, each soldo was subdivided into 12 denari, and each one of these denari was equivalent to the grosso, the actual coin existing in the system—already described.
The lira di grossi therefore maintained at first the same relativity to the lira di piccioli that the actual grosso did to the actual picciolo, namely, 26:1. This relation, however Page 315 changed subsequently with the depreciation of the actual grosso (the lira).
| In | 1278 | the ratio of | the two was | 28:1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| " | 1282 | " | " | 32:1 |
| " | 1343 | " | " | 48:1 |
| " | 1472, | onwards to | the discontinuance of the system | 62:1 |
A curious feature about this system was that in its turn it subdivides. In 1343 a double (hypothetical) grosso was adopted; one of 48 piccioli, the other of 32, both of them subdivided into thirty-two parts as, again, an ideal system.
In 1472, therefore, the Venetian silver system consisted of—
- Lira di piccioli, an actual coin represented by the Troni, and containing 128 grs. of silver, .9472 fine.
- The ideal lira di grossi, then equivalent to 10 ducats, divided into 20 ideal soldi, each equivalent to 1⁄2-ducat, each soldo again subdivided in 12 grossi, the grosso being now no longer the actual coin of that name but ideal, like the above multiples; and each grosso in its turn subdivided into 32 parts, to which the name of piccioli was given, though as ideal as its multiple the grosso. For distinction's sake probably, these ideal grossi and piccioli occur in history as grossi a oro and piccioli a oro. Page 316