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

204 The Coins of Europe
Grano and halfgrano, copper currency of the Knights of Malta and of
the Two Sicilies under the Bourbons and Murat. The former had it in
the 1 6th c. Twelve Sicilian cavalli were = i
grano = i centime and a
fraction ;
there were multiples of 2, 3, 5,
and 10 gr. in that series in
copper, and of 10, 15, and 20 gr. in silver. The silver scudo was =120
gr., and that of Francesco I., 1825-34, is scarce. The Maltese standard
was much lower than the other.
Grave, a Portuguese silver coin of the I4th c. = 3 dinheiros.
Greivinik, a Russian coin of base silver = 10 kopecks, struck under
Peter the Great and his immediate successors. There is a rare copper
one of Catherine I., 1726.
Greschen, a copper coin of Transylvania and Hungary, ijth and iSth
c. The Magyar gros.
Griffon, a Brabantine and Dutch term for the double gros or groot in
the 1
5th c., derived from the type, a griffin holding in its claw a short
sword or briquet. Schulman, Cat. v., No. 208, notices the double, dated
1487, with the name and titles of Philip the Bold. There is also the
half. See also Sch., xv. 203, for an account of an inedited griffon of
Philip le Bel, 1482-92. Comp. Briquet.
Gros, Groot, Grosch, Greschc, Grosz, Grosso, Grote, a coin apparently
of Italian origin, and equal to four danari or deniers, the highest denomination
previously available. The Venetian grosso or matapan, struck
under the Doge Arrigo Dandolo (1192-1205), was the pioneer in this
direction, and was followed at intervals by similar multiples in other parts
of Europe, especially in France by the famous and popular gros tournois.
Its success proved the importance of it at the time of its original issue ;
it was the great piece, as distinguished from the danaro or penny. The
same notion underlay the primary gulden -groschc n of Saxony. The
early Dukes of Milan issued silver grossi both of 5 and 8 soldi. In the
French series, under the Capetian dynasty, there were two or more
varieties of the gros tournois which, as we shall see, was freely copied by
other States. Mary of Burgundy (1476-82) struck one variety known as
\.\\Qgros a I M. from that letter occupying the obverse, as in one of the
Mary Stuart series. It appears that in the province of Zeeland in 1602 a
daalder was = 60 grooten ;
in 1657 an ort, struck at Elbing under
Swedish authority, was said to be = 18 groschen of Polish standard.
There is a copper grosch of Catherine I. of Russia, 1 727 = i
kopeck. The
town of Utrecht formerly coined a billon piece as low in value as the 8th
of a groot. For further particulars of the Venetian grosso see the writer's
" Coins of Venice" in Antiquary, 1884, and grosso 'infra.
See Gros.
Grosch, the German groat or gros.
Grossetto, a copper coin of Venice = 4 soldi, introduced under the
Doge Antonio Veniero (1383-1400), and weighing 38 gr. 9 car. A
triple gr. of the following reign (1400-13) weighs 100 gr. The i grossetto
was struck under Andrea Gritti (1523-38). The piece of analogous
character current in Dalmatia and Illyria was worth only f of the Venetian
grossetto.
Grosso, the Italian form of gros. The Venetian grosso was sometimes
called a matapan, from the Cape of that name, where the fleet of the
Republic had at that juncture won a success. Compare Giustina. The
coin was appointed to weigh 44 gr., and was of fine silver. The Milanese
grosso was practically in currency down to the last century, but instead
of being worth 8 soldi, as under the autonomous Dukes, passed for 5
only, the value being usually expressed.