Начало чеканки сербских подражаний венецианским гроссо:
EVIDENCE AND ARGUMENTS THAT THE SERBIAN KING STEFAN THE FIRST CROWNED WAS THE FIRST SERBIAN KING THAT MINTED COINS
In 1194, Enrico Dandolo 41st Doge of Venice, enacted reforms to the Venetian currency system. He introduced three denominations, the bianco (half-penny), the quartarolo (quarter-penny), and the silver grosso or matapan. The grosso or matapan was the first nearly pure silver and high denomination coin minted in western Europe in over 500 years. It eventually became the dominant coin of Mediterranean commerce.
Venetians minted these new coins for 23 years before Stefan Nemanjic was crowned as a first king of the new Serbian Kingdom!
Let’s see some events and circumstances that followed the introduction of Venetians matapan:
1. The Republic of Venice leads the Fourth Crusade, conquers Constantinople, demolishes the Byzantine Empire and thus weakens the influence of the Eastern Church between 1201 and 1204. Latin Empire was formed. Serbia is turning to the west.
2. Stefan Nemanjić, son of Zupan Stefan Nemanja, marry Anna Dandolo, a Venetian from the wealthy and politically influential family, granddaughter of the former Doge of Venice, Enrico Dandolo, in 1207.
3. The Catholic Pope Honorius III 1216 - 1227 from the Vatican sends a legate to crown Stefan as the first king of Nemanjic Serbia in 1217. The Vatican was then the seat of Christianity, the Serbian Orthodox Church or SOC did not yet exist, and Venice was the most powerful financial power at the time, the center of trade, and their matapan type coins were the most popular money in the world.
4. Serbian Matapan coins with the description STEFAN REX SSTEFAN correspond to the Venetian standard by weight 2.178g +/- 1%.
5. The coins correspond to the Venetian standard in size 20-21mm.
6. The coins correspond to the Venetian standard in moneyer marks: dot, star, cross, circle and lines next to Jesus' right leg and inside the throne on the reverse.
7. The coins conform to the Venetian standard by a line above the throne and sometimes by an inclined line that bends on both side of the throne.
8. The coins correspond to the Venetian standard in decorative letters. Decorative letters are only present on high-quality matapans with the description STEFAN REX SSTEFAN and better quality matapans of King Uroš I with the description VROSIVS REX SSTEFAN.
9. The coins correspond to the Venetian standard of silver content of 94%-96%, which later fell to 75% during the reign of King Dragutin and King Milutin.
The first king, close to the biggest financial power in the world not to use the opportunity to mint money, a symbol of an independent and sovereign state, but he used the opportunity to get the crown and the kingdom, is unimaginable!
Unimaginable!
Rastko Nemanjić (1175-1236), or Saint Sava, brother of Stefan Nemanjić, son of Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the Serbian state, founded the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) and became the first Serbian archbishop. With the support of the Ecumenical Patriarch, he proclaimed the independence of the Orthodox Church in Serbia from the Ohrid Archbishopric in 1219 and in the same year crowned his brother as King of Serbia.
Very important circumstances for understanding who first minted the Serbian silver medieval coins and the first coins of the Nemanjić state are precisely the events from 1201 to 1219:
1. Fourth Crusade 1201-1204.
2. Strengthening of the Republic of Venice, which became the largest economic power in the world.
3. Fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1204.
4. Strengthening the influence of the Western Church.
5. Political marriage of Stefan Nemanjic with Anna Dandolo in 1207.
6. The desire of the Vatican and Venice to have good relations with their neighbors, especially with Serbia.
7. The desire of the Western Church for Serbia to join them in faith.
8. Stefan Nemanjić's aspiration to be king and establish a kingdom.
9. At that time, because of the fall of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople could not give him the crown, he used the influence from Venice to get the crown from the Pope and the Western Church.
10. Money is a symbol of statehood and state independence and sovereignty. It is minted by Byzantium, Venice, Hungary and Bulgaria at that time.
11. If he managed to convince the Vatican to give him the crown how could he not convince Venice to give him approval to mint coins, skilled and experienced moneyers and the necessary materials including silver, especially with the influential Dandolo family on his side? 12. The papal legate arrives and crowns Stefan as king of Serbia in 1217.
13. Sava disagrees with the political and religious moves and the path that Serbia has taken.
14. Sava's aspiration towards the Eastern Church and his influence on the king, his own brother.
15. Sava becomes the first Serbian archbishop.
16. Sava forms the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) in 1219.
17. He crowns his brother Stefan as king in the Serbian monastery of Žica in 1219.
18. The Vatican and Venice probably feel betrayed and cheated, but the money that was minted from before the first coronation to the second coronation is in circulation in Serbia, Venice and Dubrovnik.
19. In a document written to Dubrovnik in 1214, 3 years before the coronation, Stefan Nemanjić mentions trade and trade laws for which money is needed.
20. No one from Venice called either King Stefan the First Crowned or his son Uroš I a forger of money, but Milutin because the silver content was reduced only in his time, after 1282, and thus deviated from the Venetian standard.
21. The coin with the description STEFAN REX SSTEFAN can only be either the coin of King Stefan the First Crowned 1217-1228 or King Dragutin 1276-1282. But how could King Dragutin, in a short reign of 6 years, mint both high-quality matapan that are in accordance with the Venetian standard and poorer quality matapan that deviated from the Venetian standard? In his short reign, he had mints that he inherited from his father Uros I. What kind of coins did Uros I have? Coins of a lower standard than quality matapan with description STEFAN REX SSTEFAN! Dragutin's matapans are like their fathers, coins of Uroš I, and even worse. The logical conclusion is that the standard decreased over time and moved further and further away from the Venetian standard! Especially with the change of government and the arrival of a new king. Dragutin does not have a strong connection with Venice, nor did he inherit enough expert moneyers to mint matapan type of exceptional quality!
22. The first silver coins of the Nemanjić state is high-quality matapan type minted according to the Venetian standard with the description STEFAN REX SSTEFAN issued by Stefan The First Crowned 1217-1228.
23. The second silver and first copper coins of the Nemanjić state are coins minted by King Radoslav 1228-1234, the eldest son of Stefan The First Crowned, modeled on Byzantine coins because his mother was a Byzantine princess and he had family ties with Byzantine emperors. He certainly did not have a close relationship with Venice or with his stepmother Anna Dandolo, so he turned to Byzantium. But where did he got the idea to mint coins, from his father!
24. The third silver coins of the Nemanjić state is matapan of medium quality according to the Venetian standard with the description VROSIVS REX SSTEFAN and STEFAN REX VROSIVS minted by Stefan Uros I 1243-1276, the youngest son of Stefan The First Crowned and Anna Dandolo.
25. The fourth silver coins of the Nemanjić state is matapan of poor quality that deviated from the Venetian standard with the description STEFAN REX SSTEFAN minted by Stefan Dragutin in 1276-1282.
26. The fifth silver coins of the Nemanjić State is matapan of poor quality that deviated from the Venetian standard with the description VROSIVS REX SSTEFAN minted by Stefan Uros II Milutin 1282-1321.
27. Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet from Florence, wrote the Divine Comedy at the beginning of the 14th century, around 1308, during the reign of King Stefan Uroš II Milutin, and calls the Serbian king a counterfeiter of coins. Why? Because by then the Serbian matapan deviated from the Venetian standard in all the characteristics mentioned above: it does NOT correspond to the Venetian standard in terms of weight 2.178g +/- 1%, it does NOT correspond to the Venetian standard in terms of size 20-21mm, it does NOT correspond to the Venetian standard in terms of moneyer marks: dot, star, cross , circle, lines..., does NOT correspond to the Venetian standard by the line above the throne sometimes also inclined that bends on both sides of the throne, does NOT correspond to the Venetian standard by use of decorative letters and does NOT correspond to the Venetian standard by silver content 94%-96% because the content is reduced to 75%.
The only thing left is for someone to do an analysis of the silver of the coins of Venetian rulers and compare it with these high quality matapan coins of King Stefan the First Crowned!
The comparison of the Venetian coins below with the Serbian matapan clearly indicates an obvious difference in quality of Dragutin coins and as we said, King Dragutin simply did not have the time or the moneyers to be responsible for minting both high quality and low quality coins of the matapan type with a description STEFAN REX SSTEFAN. There is no logic that the coins would differ so much in terms of quality in only 6 years of his reign using same moneyers he inherited from his father, King Uroš I.
Venetian moneyers maintained the standard and quality of coins from 1192 to 1328. Stefan The First Crowned used exclusively Venetian moneyers and their silver. Uros I used Venetian and Serbian moneyers, especially after the opening of the Brskovo mine around 1260. Dragutin and Milutin used exclusively Serbian moneyers and local silver. This explains the difference in the quality of the minting, the quality of the silver used and the differences in design.
King Dragutin is the first king to start minting other types of coins, other then matapan and that's where the Serbian coins experience a new development and increase in quality and variety, especially the appearance of the first Cyrillic types and variants!
So Stefan The First Crowned and Uros I exclusively minted the matapan type and no other types. Dragutin was the first to start minting other types. There is a turning point and the weakening of the popularity of the matapan type, at least in Serbia. That is why it is logical that it was during the reign of Dragutin, and especially during the reign of Milutin, that the matapan type experienced a decline in the quality of minting and in the content of silver. Further evidence of decline of the matapan type is the change from king and saint holding banner to holding double cross. First changes took place by king Dragutin and were followed by king Milutin.
To summarize, the religious, political and economic situation at the beginning of the 13th century was in favor of Serbia. Stefan Nemanjić takes advantage of the situation and gets the crown and establishes a new Serbian kingdom. Money is part of the deal. A crown and a kingdom are much more difficult achievements than coin minting. If Serbia gave the impression that it was turning to the Western Church by accepting the crown from the Pope, the approval of Venice to allow Serbia and the first king Stefan The First Crowned to mint matapan type similar to the Venetian coins and according to their standard, is a small compromise.
I am absolutely convinced without any doubt that the first king minted the first coins!