Florin

Florin (It: fiorini), minted in Florence in the 14th century, perhaps in 1308. Its name does not come from the name of the city, but from the image of a flower on the obverse. A flower in Latin is florus, in Italian it is fiore. From this comes the name of the city of Florence (Latin: Florentia, Italian: Firenze). The lily flower is also a distinctive emblem, understandable even to the illiterate. Why specifically the lily? In the Middle Ages, it had very complex symbolism also associated with the Marian cult. As one of Mary’s attributes, it symbolized purity, innocence, but also greatness, glory, majesty and beauty. Mary was one of the city’s patronesses, perhaps that is why the rulers of Florence chose this particular plant as their emblem, emphasizing both the divine protection of the city and its magnificence. The lily had already appeared on earlier silver groschen, so the florins repeated a well-known and established motif – a flower in profile, with three petals and two stamens between them, in a beautiful Gothic style, designed in the first half of the 13th century. The image of the reverse is not accidental either – Saint John the Baptist was highly respected in the Middle Ages, he was the patron of the Florence Cathedral, as well as one of the guardians of Florence. On the coin, he stands upright, dressed in a characteristic camel skin cloak, with long hair and beard, holding a scepter and a book (implicitly the Holy Bible) in his hands. This representation dominated the later iconography of the saint. The inscriptions on both sides of the coin confirm the above interpretations, both begin with the so-called initial crosses – on the obverse, the rim says: FLOR• – •ENTIA and on the reverse, the inscription is: •S•IOHA – NNES•B and it ends with the five-petal leaf mark.