The
scudo was the name for a number of
coinA coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s used in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the
Spanish-Gold escudo:The first escudo was a gold coin introduced in 1535/1537, with coins denominated in escudos issued until 1833. It was initially worth 16 reales...
and
Portuguese escudoThe escudo was the currency of Portugal prior to the introduction of the Euro on 1 January 1999 and its removal from circulation on 28 February 2002. The escudo was subdivided into 100 centavos....
, was derived from the
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
scutum ("
shieldA shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace or battle axe to the side of the shield-bearer....
"). From the 16th century, the name was used in Italy for large
silverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
coins. Sizes varied depending on the issuing country.
First
scudo d'argento (silver shield) was issued in 1551 by
Charles VCharles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
(1519–1556) in
MilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
.
Under
Maria TheresaMaria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...
and
Joseph IIJoseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
the
scudo d'argento had a weight of 23.10 g and a fineness of 896/1000.
In the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia (under the control of the Habsburg
Austrian EmpireThe Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
), the
Lombardy-Venetia scudoThe pound was the currency of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia.The pound was made of 4.33 grams of silver , correspondently to the German standards. Six pounds were called shield and were equivalent to the Austrian Conventionsthaler. Each pound was divided into 100 cents...
was equivalent to the
ConventionsthalerThe Conventionstaler was a standard silver coin of the Holy Roman Empire. It was introduced in 1754 and contained one tenth of a Cologne mark of silver ....
and was subdivided into six
lireLira is the name of the monetary unit of a number of countries, as well as the former currency of Italy, Malta, San Marino and the Vatican City and Israel. The term originates from the value of a Troy pound of high purity silver. The libra was the basis of the monetary system of the Roman Empire...
.
Before the
Napoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, the lira was subdivided into 20
soldi, each of 12
denari. Later, the lira was made up of 100
centesimi.
When
Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
decimalizedDecimal currency is the term used to describe any currency that is based on one basic unit of currency and a sub-unit which is a power of 10, most commonly 100....
in 1857, the scudo was replaced by the
florinThe florin was the currency of Lombardy-Venetia between 1862 and 1866. It replaced the pound at a rate of 1 florin = 3 pounds. The florin was equivalent to the Austro-Hungarian gulden . Although it was subdivided into 100 soldi rather than 100 Kreuzer, Austrian coins circulated in Venetia...
at a rate of 2 florin = 1 scudo. Coins of ½ and 1 soldo were issued, equal to ½ and 1
kreuzerThe Kreuzer, in English usually kreutzer, was a silver coin and unit of currency existing in the southern German states prior to the unification of Germany, and in Austria.-Early history:...
, for use in Lombardy and Venetia.
In the
Papal StatesThe Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
, the
Papal States scudoThe Roman scudo was the currency of the Papal States until 1866. It was subdivided into 100 baiocchi , each of 5 quattrini...
was the currency until 1866. It was divided into 100
baiocchi (sing.
baiocco), each of 5
quattrini. It was replaced by the
lira-History:In 1866 Pope Pius IX, whose sovereignty was reduced to the sole Latium, decided to join the Latin Monetary Union. A new currency, the lira, was introduced with the same value of the French franc and the Italian lira...
, equal to the
Italian liraThe lira was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. Between 1999 and 2002, the Italian lira was officially a “national subunit” of the euro...
.
The
Duchy of Modena and ReggioThe Duchy of Modena and Reggio |Italian]] state that existed from 1452 to 1859, with a break between 1796 and 1814. It was ruled by the noble House of Este, from 1814 Austria-Este.-House of Este:...
also issued scudi, worth four lire or one third of a
tallero.
In popular culture
In the film
The Godfather Part IIThe Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
, the word scudo is used in place of "dollar" or "buck" by some of the Italian-speaking immigrant characters, such as Mrs. Colombo's landlord.