During the period embraced by our memoirs of Urbino, the standard of value prevalent in most parts of Italy was the golden florin or ducat. Of these probably equivalent terms, the former was generally employed in Central Italy, the latter in Lombardy. According to Villani, the florin of Florence, in 1340, weighed 72 grains of pure gold, 24 carats fine. Sismondi, in referring to a period about a century later, estimates its weight at 1/8 of an ounce, or 60 grains. Orsini reckons it, in 1533, at 70 grains, 22 carats fine. On the whole, it appears, from Cibrario and other authorities, that this coin, and its successor the zecchino, have maintained an almost uniform weight down to the present time. Assuming that gold in Italy had then the same _coinage-value_ as in England, it appears from calculations, founded upon Fleetwood's data, that the florin was, at these various periods, equivalent in contemporary English coin to 3_s._ 6_d._, 4_s._ 8_d._, and 5_s._ 10_d._ Again, the ducat of Venice is estimated by Daru at 4 franks in 1465, at 4-1/3 in 1490, and by Sanuto at 4_s._ English in 1500. Riposati, in a careful analysis of the coinage of Gubbio, proves that the conventional Urbino florin of 1450 should have contained 634-34/59 grains of silver, besides alloy, which would at that time have yielded 3_s._ 9_d._ English, or at our present pure silver value (5_s._ 6_d._ to the ounce) 7_s._ 3-1/4_d._ It would follow, from these several opinions, that the florin or ducat of Italy, in the fifteenth century, was equal to from 3_s._ 6_d._ to 4_s._ 6_d._ in _contemporary_ English circulation, which disposes of two elements for our calculation. The remaining two must have been inadequately kept in view by Cibrario, Ricotta, and Audin, who respectively value the florin of 1400 as _now_ worth 16-2/3 francs, that of 1490 at 14 francs, and that of 1500 at 12 francs; while in the _Library of Entertaining Knowledge_ it is set down at 10_s._ English in 1480. But if we assume the analogy of English prices as collected by Fleetwood, the result will be very different. From these it appears that an average cost of wheat and oats per quarter, in the fifteenth century, was about 5_s._ 2_d._ and 2_s._ 6_d._, while the wages of labourers and artisans were respectively 3-1/2_d._ and 4-1/2_d._ a day. Accordingly, if corn be taken as the test, money was then _ten times_ beyond its modern value; while, if we include labour and luxuries, the actual depreciation must appear much greater. We are greatly encouraged to find such an inference not very different from that adopted by three recent and important authorities. Prescott values the Spanish ducat of 1490 at 39_s._ 4_d._, and Macaulay states that of Florence in 1340 at 40_s._ sterling, while Sismondi calculates it at about 48 francs. On the whole, then, we venture to assume that the Italian ducat or florin of the fifteenth century was nearly equal to the present Spanish dollar, and that it would have purchased about