1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sequin

SEQUIN (the French form of Ital. zecchino, zecchino d'oro), the name of a Venetian gold coin, first minted about 1280, and in use until the fall of the Venetian Republic. It was worth about nine shillings. It bore on the obverse a figure of St Mark blessing the banner of the republic, held by a kneeling doge, and on the reverse a figure of Christ. Milan and Genoa also issued gold sequins. The word in Italian was formed from zecca, Span. zeca, a mint, an adaptation of Arabic sikka, a die for coins. In the sense of &ldquo;newly-coined,&rdquo; the Hindi or Persian sikka, anglicised sicca, was specifically used of a rupee, containing more silver than the East India Company's rupee, coined in 1793 by the Bengal government. The &ldquo;sicca-rupee&rdquo; ceased to be circulated after 1836. The term &ldquo;sequin&rdquo; is now used for small discs made of thin pieces of metal, tinfoil, celluloid or other composite material, highly glazed and brightly coloured, and applied as trimming for ladies' dresses.