"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" they say, and that is certainly true in the case of the fiorino d’oro, the gold florin, first issued by the city republic of Florence in 1252. The first ones to flatter Florence by imitating its coins were the popes in Avignon during the Great Schism, when there were two popes at the same time, one in Rome and one in Avignon. But soon all the owners of nearby mints had caught the "fiorino fever." By 1325, it had reached Hungary, and around 1340 it came to Germany, where florins soon became an accepted means of payment for bulk trade. Europe's first international gold coin was born. And here is your chance to get acquainted with it.
