5 Schei de Mona

What does this strange expression mean? The Venetian word “schei” means “money” and it comes from the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, which was a crown land of the Austrian Empire. At that time, in fact, mostly German coins were circulating, called “kronen”. 

The cents of this currency were called “pfenning” and on the “pfenning” coins, one could read the wording “Schei-de münze”, or “divisional currency”. 

To abbreviate it, and also perhaps to make fun of the Austrian occupier given the dialectal meaning of the word, between the 18th and 19th century the Venetians probably called these coins “Schei de mona”. 

This is where the good luck quote “Sinque schei de mona ghe fa ben a tuti” and the Damini’s collection of coins, keychains and pendants come from, even if the latter’s shape is patriotically inspired by the last coin minted by the Serenissima Republic.