In 1805 Napoleon declared himself King of Italy, but the change was not followed by any radical revolution of the coinage system.
From 1806 the decimal system was introduced into Italy, and on the reduction of the numerous independent monetary systems the Venetian lira was computed at .5116 of the Italian, i.e. 51.16 centesimi.
As a matter of fact, however, the Venetian lira did not totally thereupon disappear from use.
By decree of December 21, 1807, the ducat (zecchino) of 67 47⁄41 Venetian grs. was rated at 12.03 lire Italiane.
Under the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, which succeeded, the main Italian monies were assimilated to those of Austria. The money of account was, at Milan, the Austrian lira (= 100 centesimi = 20 Austrian soldi at 5 centesimi each).
There remains to be described the second and less important basis of the Venetian system, that of the lira di grossi. It was throughout—i.e. from the thirteenth century, when it originated, to the close of the sixteenth, when it disappeared—an ideal system, i.e. of account only.
A supposititious lira di grossi was taken and divided into 40 soldi, each soldo was subdivided into 12 denari, and each one of these denari was equivalent to the grosso, the actual coin existing in the system—already described.
The lira di grossi therefore maintained at first the same relativity to the lira di piccioli that the actual grosso did to the actual picciolo, namely, 26:1. This relation, however
changed subsequently with the depreciation of the actual grosso (the lira).
| In | 1278 | the ratio of | the two was | 28:1 |
| " | 1282 | " | " | 32:1 |
| " | 1343 | " | " | 48:1 |
| " | 1472, | onwards to | the discontinuance of the system | 62:1 |