Venetian soldino of Leonardo Loredan

This 12mm in diameter hammered silver coin was unearthed on the 27th of September by Mike Ruczynski. I was told that Mike was using his new Deus 2 and despite been located at a depth of 8 inches the coin gave off a good signal. Needless to say, Mike is delighted with his new machine.

The coin is a Venetian soldino. On the obverse is the standing figure of St. Mark with the Venetian Doge kneeling before him and a legend reading IE LAV DVX S M V. On the reverse is the standing figure of Christ and the legend on this side reads SOLI LAVS TIBI.

This soldino was struck for Leonardo Loredan between 1501 and 1521, when he was Doge of the Venetian Republic. A very large number of these coins were imported into England and were used as halfpennies. Due to the shortage of small change they circulated widely and specimens turn up quite frequently as detecting finds.

Valuation

Most of those that come out of the soil are not in good condition; they are often worn and/or damaged in some way. Mike’s example is well above average and would grade near VF. Even though it isn’t scarce, in its present condition this soldino should be worth £40-50 to a collector.

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