Nomos 31

IONIAN ISLANDS, Septinsular Republic. Under Russian-Ottoman supremacy. 1800-1807. 1 Gazzetta 1801 (Copper, 25 mm, 6.46 g, 12 h), Corfu, denomination in Greek, edged with a chain-pattern. ΕΠΤΑΝΗΣΟΣ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑ✱ The winged lion of Saint Mark holding Book of Gospels surmounted by 7 arrows representing the 7 Ionian islands. Rev. 1/ ΓΑZFΤΑ / 1801 in three lines; the whole within circular chain border. Karamitsos I.3a (same dies). Lambros 8 var. (same obverse die, but different controls on the reverse), KM 1. Graded by NGC "AU 55 BN". Cert number: 2909008-003.

From the El-Greco Collection of Modern Greek Rarities.

The mint of the Septinsular Republic was officially created on 5 September 1801, following the billingual decree issued by the president of the Senate of the Ionian Republic, Count Spyridon Georgios Theotokis. That decree announced the coins' denominations and the iconography, as well as the measures taken to assure the new currency's acceptance. However, the decree didn't specify the exact exchange rate of the Gazetta to the foreign silver and gold coins, which circulated in the region. The mint was located in Garitsa, a southern suburb of Corfu, very close to the future Mon Repos.

Due to the extreme rarity of these coins, it has been suggested that they never circulated, and all the surviving examples are in fact patterns. Count Markos Theotokis, in his study published in 1884, maintained that the decree to release the coins into circulation was never actually published, and, in fact, even doubted the 1801 decree's authenticity.

In any case, the way the coins were minted is certainly related to Russian mint practices, especially given the presence of the anti-forgery incuse edge pattern that all these coins have (and has never been mentioned in the past). This is very unusual in modern Greek coins, with the only parallel being the edge decoration of the 20 Lepta of 1831, issued by the Governor Iohannes Kapodistrias, (once minister of foreign affairs of the Russian empire).