The ducat /ˈdʌkət/ was a gold or silver coin used as a trade coin in Europe from the later medieval centuries until as late as the 20th century. Many types of ducats had various metallic content and purchasing power throughout the period. The gold ducat of Venice gained wide international acceptance, like the medieval Byzantine hyperpyron and the Florentine florin, or the modern British pound sterling and the United States dollar.
The word ducat is from Medieval Latin ducatus = "relating to a duke (or dukedom)", and initially meant "duke's coin" or a "duchy's coin".
The first issue of this type of coin is thought to have been under king Roger II of Sicily, who was also the Duke of Apulia and who, in 1140, coined ducats bearing the figure of Christ and the inscription, Sit tibi, Christe, datus, quem tu regis iste ducatus meaning "O Christ, let this duchy, which you rule, be dedicated to you."
Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice, whose title means duke, introduced a silver ducat whose types are related to the ducats of Roger II. Later gold ducats of Venice, however, became so important that the name ducat was associated exclusively with them and the silver coins came to be called grossi.
Everything I've ever done
And everything I have
Amounts to nothing
Keeps on crushing you within
Sometimes you want to be alone
It won't find the time to understand
And concentrate on everything you see
If you think about it hard you'll know