Ducat

duk′at, n. a gold coin, formerly much used on the Continent, its commonest value being about 9s. 4d., though there were silver ducats in Italy worth 3s. 4d.— n. Ducatoon′ , an old silver coin in Venice and elsewhere, worth 5 to 6 shillings. [O. Fr. ducat —It. ducato — ducat us , a duchy. The name was applied to an Apulian silver coin of 1140. The first gold ducat struck at Venice in 1284 bore the legend—'Sit tibi Christe dat us quem tu reg is iste Ducatus ' ('Be this duchy, which thou rulest, dedicated to thee, O Christ'), which may have helped to spread the name, though it did not originate it.]