Christ in glory / Doge kneeling before St. Mark. Imitating a gold zecchino of Pasquale Cicogna (1585-1595), Doge of Venice. Proper size, but underweight, the inscriptions are somewhat legible but very corrupt. 20mm, 2.32 grams. Imitating Fb. 1270; Gamberini 518.

The coin is lightweight and shows a darker metal under a scuff on obverse - it is probably a fouree, with a silver or a copper core. 

In the 16th century Genoa unleashed a flood of fake Venetian zecchinos of varying quality, which they used in trade, especially with the Ottomans. The quality ranged from almost indistinguishable to very poor, the gold was somewhat debased, the coins were generally lighter as well. This coinage generated confusion and undermined the fame and repute of the original Venetian zecchino. Apart from the Genoese-inspired imitations, all motivated by fraudulent and political aims, significant numbers of counterfeit coins were produced by the Turks - these inspired the Balkan imitations produced for jewellery, given that local and gypsy populations had the custom of wearing necklaces of fake coins and of decorating jerkins and belts with light reproductions of Turkish and Venetian coins.