Sequin (coin) who was prominently depicted on it, it was called the ', after the Zecca (mint) of Venice, since 1543 when Venice began minting a silver coin also called a ducat. The name of the mint ultimately derives from ("), meaning a coin mould or die. In some regions, in later centuries, this type of coins were stitched to women's clothing such as headdresses – this eventually led to the origin of the more modern word "sequins" to denote small shiny, circular decorations. Following the Venetian model, similar coins were used for centuries throughout the Mediterranean. After two hundred years of
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