Today, most European countries share the same currency, the euro. I am old enough to remember lire and the pain of having to change money at the airport when you were traveling: honestly, I am happy those days are gone.

What many people may not realize is that, centuries before the euro was even conceived, the Old Continent had already shared common currencies, and they came from Italy, more precisely, from Florence, Venice, and Genoa. We’re talking about the fiorino, the zecchino,  and the genovino respectively.