Ducat

The ducat was a gold coin that was used throughout Europe. It weighed 3.5 grams (0.1125 tr oz) of .986 pure gold.

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The ducat was introduced by the Republic of Venice in 1284 under the doge (duke) Giovanni Dandolo (1280-1289). The Venetian ducat featured the Doge kneeling before St. Mark on the obverse and Jesus on the reverse. Many different authorities, including dozens of German and Austrian states, produced ducats. The denomination was made until the early 20th century.

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becoming a standard gold coin through out Europe, especially after it was officially imperially (HRE?) sanctioned in 1566(?) (or is it 1559?). Sanctioned until 1857. To make it more confusing there is also a silver ducat. According to 1913 Webster the ducat was worth the equivalent of "nine shillings and four pence sterling, or somewhat more than two dollars. The silver ducat is of about half this value."

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The name ducat is derived from the Latin for (duke).-->

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Multiples of the ducat were also produced.

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Production of ducats as trade coins continued after the WWI. Even now some mints produce batches of ducats made after old patterns as bullion gold and banks sell these coins to private investors.

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The term ducat (pronounced duh cut) is still used today as slang for a unit of currency.

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Gold: Gold is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Au (L. aurum) and atomic number 79. A soft, shiny, yellow, heavy, malleable, ductile (trivalent and univalent) transition metal, gold does not react with most chemicals but is attacked by chlorine, fluorine and aqua regia. The meta...

Coin: :This article is about monetary coins. For alternative meaning see word coinage....

Republic of Venice: The Most Serene Republic of Venice was a Venetian city-state in Northeastern Italy, based around the city of Venice. It existed from the 9th century until the 18th century (1797). It is often referred to as the Serenissima, which is Latin for its title, "Most Serene."...