Venice’s public bank

Venice opens the Banco della Piazza di Rialto after private-bank failures. Potosí silver is already in the trade. Amsterdam’s Wisselbank is 1609.

Pillar dollar of eight reales, Mexico, 1771. A later striking of the Spanish dollar. Not a coin of the year of this page.Public domain.

In 1587 Venice opened a public deposit table, the Banco della Piazza di Rialto, after private banks had failed. It is a civic answer to custody, not a national note issue.

Potosí silver is already moving into coin. The piece of eight is that coin’s English name. The Bank of Amsterdam, the model public ledger on these pages, is still 1609.

Warehouses to public banks →