quattrinon.
/ˌkwɒˈtriːnəʊ/, /ˌkwaˈtriːnəʊ/, /kwəˈtriːnəʊ/, U.S. /kwɑˈtrinoʊ/ Now historical.
A small coin of low value used in a number of Italian states from the 14th cent. until (in the Papal States) the 19th cent. (originally a billon coin worth four denari, but by the 16th cent. usually a copper piece and often the least valuable coin in production). Hence also: (the type of) any coin of low value. Cf. quatrin n.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > coins collective > foreign coins > [noun] > Italian or Sicilian coins
florin1303
janec1386
ducatc1470
ouncec1520
bajoccoa1549
denara1549
julioa1549
zecchino1572
chequina1587
mocenigo1599
soldo1599
quattrino1605
gazet1607
lira1617
paolo1617
sequin1617
julet1632
betso1641
quadruple1655
scudoc1660
doppy1691
Venetian1698
carlin?1706
pentecontalitron1738
paul1767
crazia1805
centesimo1840
1605 R. Dallington Suruey Great Dukes State Tuscany 37 Paying out of euery Asses burthen one quattrino to the Duke before they passe the gates.
1766 T. Snelling View Coins Europe 17 In Milan there is in Copper a Quatrino,..current for 4 Danari, worth about ½ of a Penny.
1785 B. Hobhouse Let. 6 Mar. in Remarks on France, Italy, &c. (1796) xliv. 298 The price of a round is a quattrino.
1833 Times 14 May 6/7 Not a quatrino of Paganini's was in Rome.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola 44 Don't be angry with your pretty Tessa for taking pity on a hungry traveller, who found himself unexpectedly without a quattrino.
1904 M. Hewlett Road in Tuscany x. 224 They..kneel and say the Ave Maria, and lay down a quattrino in honour of their Madonna.
1997 M. C. Marcuzzo et al. Monetary Standards & Exchange Rates 203 (note) The quattrino, a coin struck in a debased alloy of silver and copper, owed its name to its value, in terms of the scale, fixed at 4 shillings.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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