Two Rare Coins from the Zecca Di Scio: Early Issues of the Maona Dei Giustiniani (XIVth C.)

This paper presents two rare coins from Chios island. Both are issues of the mint of Chios during the period of the Maona dei Giustiniani, the venture company which ruled the island from 1346 until 1566. This period is very well documented through the Genoese State archives and the fourteenth-century cartulary of the Codex Berianus Chiensis kept at the Library Civica Berio, in Genoa. The cartulary contains an agreement stipulated in 1347 between the Commune of Genoa and the Maona, which lays down the right of the Maona to strike coins in the mint (the Zecca) of the island. We know that Chios operated its own mint and struck gold, silver and copper coins since the early 1300s, under the Zaccaria overlords. The two coins discussed in this paper appear to be among the earliest issues of the Old Maona: the first is a silver harati (carat or keration) bearing the bust of the doge with the legend DVX IANVENSIVN; the second is a copper denier tournois bearing the castle of Tours with the legend CIVITAS SII. The reverse of both coins commemorates CUNRADVS REX. They are an important addition to the study of the late medieval coinage of Genoese Chios but also a valuable resource illuminating the Mediterranean economy during the first decades of the Maona’s overlordship. The coins are part of an officially registered private collection.