The ducat was the main currency of the

Kingdom of the Two Sicilies The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies () was a kingdom in Southern Italy from 1816 to 1861 under the control of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, Bourbons. The kingdom was the largest sovereign state by popula ...

between 1816 and 1860. When the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

created the kingdom merging the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples (; ; ), officially the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was established by the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282–1302). Until ...

and the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

, the ducat became at par a continuation of the Neapolitan ducat and the Sicilian piastra issued prior to 1816, although the Sicilian piastra had been subdivided into 240 grana. In the mainland part of the kingdom, the ducat also replaced the Napoleonic

lira Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current Turkish lira, currency of Turkey and also the local name of the Lebanese pound, currencies of Lebanon and of Syrian pound, Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, ...

History

The subdivision and the coinage of the currency were simplified with respect to the pre-Napoleonic era: only three denominations survived. The

ducat The ducat ( ) coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages to the 19th century. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wide inter ...

proper was the name of the gold coins, and curiously it did not exist as a single unit; the grana (

singular Singular may refer to: * Singular, the grammatical number that denotes a unit quantity, as opposed to the plural and other forms * Singular or sounder, a group of boar, see List of animal names * Singular (band), a Thai jazz pop duo *'' Singula ...

: ''grano'') was the name of the silver coins, itself also not existing as a single unit; the tornesel (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''tornese'') was the name of the copper coins, which were worth half a ''grana''. Accounts were kept in ducats, each of 100 grana or 200 tornesels.">
''A Handbook for Travellers in Southern Italy ''(1868) The piastra was the unofficial name of the biggest silver coin, which had a value of 120 grana. When the

Italian lira The lira ( , ; : lire, , ) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was introduced by the Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic), Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different s ...

replaced the coinage of the House of Bourbon in 1861, a rate of 1 piastra = 5.1 lire was established.

Coins

Copper coins were issued in denominations of , 1, , 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 and 10 tornesels, together with silver 5, 10, 20, 60 and 120 grana coins, the largest being unofficially called piastra. Gold coins were issued for 3, 6, 15 and 30 ducats.

References

* {{Historic Italian currency and coinage Obsolete Italian currencies Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Modern obsolete currencies Sicilies 1860 disestablishments 19th century in economic history 1816 establishments in Italy

History

Coins

See also

References