Note 112 — PART II (continued 2)
Reading edition
It was the custom of the early Doges to make a coronation present of wild ducks to each of the nobles in Venice. Owing to the difficulty of finding sufficient game in the lagoons Doge Celsi in 1361 gave a sum of money instead. In 1521 the number of recipients had so increased that the Grand Council permitted Doge Ant. Grimani to substitute a silver medal which was called an osella, the Venetian for bird. The custom survived till the end of the Republic.