During building work in Via Santo Spirito 19 an archaeological investigation was undertaken along its western side, in a part of the building without cellars. Below a presumably renaissance pavement, a hoard of renaissance coins came to light within a fill sealing the entrance to a cistern of the same period. The coins lay directly on the soil, but beneath them were traces of organic material, perhaps leather or wood, all that remained of their original container. This small treasure was divided into two nearby groups: one comprising 63 gold coins, the other comprising 210 silver or alloy coins. Amongst them were 190 coins from italian mints, 77 from french mints, three were swiss and one german. The hoard constitutes an important discovery on a historical level, providing information about how coins circulated in Milan between the mid-15th and mid-16th centuries. Among the italian mints represented are those of Milan, Rome, Venice, Ancona, Bologna, Ferrara, Genoa, Lucca, Florence and Mantova. Foreign mints are represented by those of the Duchy of Lorraine, France, the Sanct Gallen Stadt, Berne and Nuremberg. The half florin of Renato II of Lorraine is a unique piece, there being no published examples, while the coins of Francesco Sforza represent a rarity in Milan, especially the "grosso" worth 15 soldi. (Anna Ceresa Mori)