A small Italian coin of low value that was used primarily in the Papal States during the 16th to 19th centuries.
From Italian, possibly derived from 'baiocco,' whose origin is debated—some trace it to a proper name or to Low Latin terms for small currency. It circulated widely in Rome and papal territories as a minor denomination.
The bajocco was to Renaissance Italy what a penny is to us today, so when Renaissance writers complained about 'not being worth a bajocco,' they meant absolutely worthless—it's the ancestor of all our expressions about worthless change.
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