GRANO: COIN OF NAPLES (ITALY)
1 grano, 1789: Kingdom of Naples (Italy)
Ruler: Ferdinand IV (Italian "Ferdinando di Borbone-Due Sicilie") — king of the Kingdom of Naples (1759-1799, 1799-1806, 1815-1816). Also known as Ferdinand I (as the King of the Two Sicilies) and as Ferdinand III (as the Kingdom of Sicily).
VN GRANO / CAVALLI 12: one grano or 12 cavalli (the denomination of the coin is indicated in double format).
CC around the number "12" (the meaning of these symbols is unclear; on the coins of this series during the years 1788-1800 there are also other designations — PCC, PAC, PAP, PRC, RC, AP...).
FERDINAN IV SICILIAR REX: Ferdinand IV Sicilian king.
Portrait of the king.
Below the portrait is the symbol "P." — mark of engraver Domenico Perger.
- Copper: 25 mm - 5.62 g
- Reference price: 4.1$
COIN GRANO — WHERE & WHEN (coins catalog: by names & emitents)
- KINGDOM OF NAPLES (Italian states, 15th-19th centuries): grano = 12 cavallo = 2 torneso = 1/120 piastra
- KINGDOM OF SICILY (Italian states, 16th-19th centuries): grano = 1/20 taro = 1/240 piastra
- KINGDOM OF THE TWO SICILIES (Italian states, 19th century): grano = 2 torneso = 1/120 piastra
- ORDER OF MALTA (16th-18th centuries): grano = 1/20 taro = 1/240 scudo
GRANO as coin name.
Grano (plural: grana/grani) — historical copper coin of the states of Southern Italy. Larger denominations (8, 10, 15... grana) were minted from silver. It was used during the 15-19 centuries.
Grano of the Order of Malta (Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta) of approximately the same historical period is considered separately. Maltese grano were issued during the 16th-18th centuries inclusively as 1/240 scudo (additionally from 1967 — exclusively in the form of souvenir coins).
The first grano appeared on the lands of the Kingdom of Naples at the end of the 1490s. It were copper coins weighing more than 4 g.
120 grana of Naples were equal to one Neapolitan piastra. Interestingly, no coins were issued in piastras at all. The analogue of the main monetary unit was a large silver coin (weight: 27.5 g) with a denomination of 120 grano.
In turn, one grano was divided into 2 tornese (plural: tornesi) or 12 cavallo (plural: cavalli).
Grano was also issued by the neighboring Kingdom of Sicily (the Sicilian piastra consisted of 240 corresponding grano). After uniting with Naples in 1816 into the single Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the new currency was once again piastra (120 grano).
Grano continued to be minted until the unification of Italy and the abolition of local currencies in the second half of the 19th century.
The name of the grano coin comes from the Latin word "granum" — wheat, grain (in the context of the units of measurement of weight of the ancient Romans).
