Zecchino d'Oro (13). Zecchino d'Oro Zecchino d'Oro (; meaning "Golden Sequin") is an international children's song festival that has taken place every year since 1959. It is broadcast by Rai 1. It was started by Cino Tortorella, and the first two festivals were held in Milan. In 1961, the festival was taken up by the Antoniano Institute and moved to Bologna. In 2009, Cino Tortorella left Zecchino d'Oro. In 1963, Mariele Ventre, a conductor and director of young performers, created the Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano Children's Choir (called Piccolo Coro "Mariele Ventre" dell'Antoniano after her death in 1995, and directed by Sabrina Simoni).
Coining (mint) or "planchet", and is a term descended from the days when the dies were struck with hammers to deform the metal into the image of the dies. Modern dies made out of hardened steel are capable of producing many hundreds of thousands of coins before they are retired and defaced. Prior to the modern era, coin dies were manufactured individually by hand by artisans known as engravers. In demanding times, such as the crisis of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century, dies were still used even when they became very worn or even when they cracked. The die that