W. C a r e w H a z l i t t Coinage of the European Continent

2oo
The Coins of Europe
oboles. The equivalent of the Savoyard denier. Originally 12, subsequently
8 fert, made a grosso or gros, and 12 gros were reckoned to the
florin de petit poids.
Fert, the name apparently given to a gold coin of Louis, second Duke
of Savoy (1440-65), from the motto over the shield one used by the family
at least since the ijth c. The fiction as to the word representing the
initial letters of a legend relevant to the defence of Rhodes by Count
Amadeus IV. can no longer be entertained. See Mrs. Bury Palliser's
Historic Devices, etc., 1870, p. 230. The motto, which is of course significant
of fortitude or endurance, does not seem to have been employed
after the i6th c. A silver scudo of Carlo II., 1504-53, exhibits a shield
on the reverse, dividing the wordfe
rt.
Filippo, a name applied to the silver testone of Milan under the reign
of Philip III. of Spain, and continued by his successors. There is the i,
\, and \ of the later princes and Charles II. of Spain struck a \ filippo
;
on a larger flan.
Filippo, a gold coin of Milan under Spanish rule. Philip IV. struck
the filippo and double filippo.
On the reverse occurs Mcdiolani.
Fiordaliso, a gold coin of the Two Sicilies under Joanna, Queen of
Naples (1343-81). The obv. has her title as Queen of Sicily, Jerusalem,
etc., and the field is strown with lilies. It is virtually the gigliato type,
common to this region, in gold with certain differences.
c. Base
Flabbe, a piece of 4 stivers. The \ snaphaan, i6th and i;th
silver. There is the double flabbe. Groningen, etc.
Flindrich, a piece of 3 stivers or sous, struck for Jever and for East
Friesland, i6th c.
Flitter, an early copper coin of Lippe, Germany. Whelan adds that
it was small copper of Brunswick, and that the word imports a spangle.
Florette, a variety of the French gros struck under Charles VI. (1380-
1422) = 20 deniers tournois or 16 d. parisis. The name arose from the
three fleurs-de-lis crowned on the obv.
Florim, an Arragonese gold coin, I4th-i5th c., modelled on the Italian
original. It was also current in Portugal, where it seems to have been
= 70 reis.
Florin, fiorino^ from fare, a flower, a silver coin of Florence, probably
of as early a date as the I2th c. It was continued during the
whole of the republican epoch with sensible modifications and varieties.
Comp. Guelfo grosso. The prevailing type
is the bust, seated figure, or
standing one, of St. John the Baptist on obv., and on rev. the lily.
Florin, a gold coin of the same State, introduced about 1250, and
executed on the model of the silver piece, of which it
represented the
multiple often. It acquired, like its successor at Venice, a great repute,
and was extensively copied in Italy, Germany, and even France (at Barle-Duc).
Florin, a gold coin of the duchy of Berg, or s' Heerenberg, Westphalia,
copied from the Metz type. One of Hermann Friedrich has on
the rev. Florenvs. Dni. Montensis.
Florin, a gold coin in the French and Anglo-Gallic series, 1
3th- 1 4th
c. Of the latter there are the half and quarter.
Florin, a name found on the first silver coinage of Louis Napoleon,
King of Holland, 1807. It was subsequently altered to the gulden. The
gold pieces of the Netherlands are sometimes loosely described as
florins. A very singular one of Raymond IV., Duke of Gueldres, with the
Bolognese type on rev. is still preserved in the original gold box, and is