Oncia

In southern Italy, the oncia (plural oncie or once) or onza (pl. onze) was a unit of account during the Middle Ages and later a gold coin minted between 1732 and 1860. It was also minted in the southern Italian territories of the Spanish Empire, and a silver coin of the same value was minted by the Knights of Malta. The name is derived from the ancient Roman uncia. It may sometimes be translated ounce.

A silver Maltese oncia from 1741–73

In the medieval kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, one oncia was equivalent to 30 tarì, 600 grani and 3600 denari (pennies). Conventionally, a sum of money is indicated by numbers of oncie, tarì, grani and denari separated by full stops, thus 2.2.15.1 indicates 2 oncie, two tarì, 15 grani and 1 denaro. Although the oncia was never minted in the Middle Ages, it was the basic unit of account. The lesser denominations were minted, as was the ducat (six of which equalled an oncia) and the carlino (60 to the oncia).[1][2] Frederick II introduced the augustalis, which was a quarter of an oncia.[3]

Notes
  1. Eleni Sakellariou, Southern Italy in the Late Middle Ages: Demographic, Institutional and Economic Change in the Kingdom of Naples, c.1440–c.1530 (Brill, 2012), p. 492.
  2. Stephan R. Epstein, An Island for Itself: Economic Development and Social Change in Late Medieval Sicily (Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. xii.
  3. Donald Matthew, The Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Cambridge University Press, 1992), p. xi.
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