Of 20 soldi, and each soldo of 12 denari
or deniers.[7] In this case the Lira was equivalent to 10 golden
ducats; and its Denier, as the name implies, was the Grosso. The
Grosso therefore here was 1/240 of 10 ducats or 1/24 of a ducat, instead
of 1/18.
2. LIRA AI GROSSI (L. den. Ven. ad grossos). This by decree of
2nd June, 1285, went two to the ducat. In fact it is the soldo of
the preceding Lira, and as such the Grosso was, as we have
just seen, its denier; which is perhaps the reason of the name.
3. LIRA DEI PICCOLI (L. den. Ven. parvulorum). The ducat is
alleged to have been at first equal to three of these Lire
(Romanin, I. 321); but the calculations of Marino Sanudo
(1300-1320) in the Secreta Fidelium Crucis show that he reckons the
Ducat equivalent to 3.2 lire of piccoli.[8]
In estimating these Lire in modern English money, on the basis of
their relation to the ducat, we must reduce the apparent value by 1/5. We
then have:
1. LIRA DEI GROSSI equivalent to nearly 3l. 15s. 0d.
(therefore exceeding by nearly 10s. the value of the Pound sterling of
the period, or Lira di Sterlini, as it was called in the appropriate
Italian phrase).[9]
2. LIRA AI GROSSI ... 3s. 9d.
3. LIRA DEI PICCOLI ... 2s. 4d.
The TORNESE or TORNESEL at Venice was, according to Romanin (III. 343) = 4
Venice deniers: and if these are the deniers of the Lira ai Grossi, the
coin would be worth a little less than 3/4d., and nearly the equivalent
of the denier Tournois, from which it took its name.[10]
* * * * *
The term BEZANT is used by Polo always (I believe) as it is by Joinville,
by Marino Sanudo, and by Pegolotti, for the Egyptian gold dinar, the
intrinsic value of which varied somewhat, but can scarcely be taken at
less than 10s. 6d. or 11s. (See Cathay, pp. 440-441; and see also
J. As. ser. VI. tom. xi. pp. 506-507.) The exchange of Venice money for
the Bezant or Dinar in the Levant varied a good deal (as is shown by
examples in the passage in Cathay just cited), but is always in these
examples a large fraction (1/6 up to 1/3) more than the Zecchin. Hence,
when Joinville gives the equation of St. Lewis's ransom as 1,000,000
bezants or 500,000 livres, I should have supposed these to be livres
Parisis rather than Tournois, as M. de Wailly prefers.
There were a variety of coins of lower value in the Levant called
Bezants,[11] but these do not occur in our Book.
* * * * *
The Venice SAGGIO, a weight for precious substances was 1/6 of an ounce,
corresponding to the weight of the Roman gold solidus, from which was
originally derived the Arab MISKAL And Polo appears to use saggio
habitually as the equivalent of Miskal.
