The zecca mint: a self-enforcing monetary constitution in historic venice

Rania Adel Al-Bawwab ()
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Rania Adel Al-Bawwab: Middle Tennessee State University

Economics of Governance, 2022, vol. 23, issue 1, No 1, 15 pages

Abstract: Abstract Monetary history is largely a repeated narrative of currency debasement. Yet historic Venice (1172–1797), ruled by elite patricians, stands out as an example of relative monetary stability. This paper provides a historical case of Venice’s Zecca Mint which provided the elite patricians of Venice with a stable currency, playing a role in fostering the economic success of the Republic of Venice. This paper identifies three factors that together formed a self-enforcing monetary constitution to inhibit public currency debasement in historic Venice: (i) the assignment of public debt to patricians, (ii) the nearly uniform trade-centric focus of the patricians and (iii) the use of turn-taking in office for mintmasters.

Keywords: Constitutional political economy; Venice; Monetary constitution; B53; E42; E5; N13; P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1007/s10101-021-00260-z

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