Fabio Panetta: Money and trust - from the Renaissance to the digital age

Speech by Mr Fabio Panetta, Governor of the Bank of Italy, on the occasion of the external Governing Council monetary policy meeting, official dinner given by the Bank of Italy, Florence, 29 October 2025.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

The palace that hosts us today - Palazzo Vecchio - is an extraordinary symbol of history and of the continuity of our institutions.

Today it houses the Municipality of Florence, but between 1865 and 1871 it was home to the national Parliament, when the city served as the capital of the young Kingdom of Italy.

Its roots, however, extend much further back in time. It was built more than seven centuries ago to house the Signoria of the Florentine Republic, the governing body that brought together the representatives of the Guilds of Arts and Crafts - a de facto Governing Council of its times, the expression of an autonomous, prosperous and dynamic city.

In those centuries, Florence experienced exceptionally rapid growth, establishing itself as the economic, cultural and financial capital of Europe.

The florin: a prestigious and stable international currency

Florence became Europe's foremost financial centre also thanks to the creation in 1252 of its own coin: the florin. This was the first sovereign gold coin minted in the West after the fall of the Roman Empire.