-Letter of 31 March 1649 (from Florence to Leiden): "Nunquam alacrior sum ad scribendum quam dum ad te scribo, Heinsi mi amicorum suavissime; verum testor Deum, me nunquam maiori animi angore et molestia stylum in manus sumpsisse, quam hac die ad te scripturus. Paucis accipe quomodo iam confecto negotio nummorum veterum fortuna meae necessitudini, et meis erga se officijs adversa novas moras iniecerit; et ignosce si rudi et crassa, ut aiunt, Minerva haec ne obscurior fiant enarro. Parata erant numismata et in mercatoris Florentini manu numerata et expensa, nec aliud deerat quam pecuniae solutio, cum Ascanius Samminiati solvendae pecuniae iussum, ac modum mercatoris Amstelodamensis relegens, quandam in eo conditionem appositam invenit sine qua pecunia solvi nequibat. Scripsit enim Mercator tuus Amstelodamensis ad Ascanium Samminiati ut quingentos scutatos Andreae Cavalcanti et mihi solverent pro nummis aureis, argenteis, aereisq. dummodo constaret eos ipsos esse quos tu Florentiae videras. Hoc se nescire, et sibi constare non posse ait Samminiati. Hos illico testati sumus nummos eosdem esse. Sed hoc satis Ascanius Samminiati visum non fuit et se vim verborum et conditionem servare velle ait; Nisi nos hoc pacto obstingi vellemus. Nummos eosdem esse talesque semper futuros et si ulla unquam de hac re oriretur difficultas, nostro periculo ac damno futurum, et pecuniam statim restituturos polliceremur. Nos respondimus tui causa omnia libenter pati velle. Nosque diximus illum habere fideiussores nummos eosdem esse ac fore paratosq. semper futuros pecuniae deo(?) nostro restituendae, nisi eosdem tu esse diceres: mutui, atque itineris dispendia nos insuper soluturos nummosque veteres nobis reddi passuros dummodo ijdem essent, sed maris atq. itineris periculis et mercatoris Amstelodamensij arbitrio subiacere nolle. Libentissime enim pro amico humanissimo, moleste tamen pro mercatore nobis ignoto, et in scribendo nimis cauto nos periculum subituros.
His auditis Ascanius Samminiati pecunia solvere negavit, nisi ampliori et latiori formula a mercatore tuo iuberetur, aut nos haberet omnium difficultatum expensorum et periculorum fideiussores etiam itineris. Regionis longinquitas maris terraeq. ancipites eventus et nimia mercatoris Amstelodamensis in hac re sagacitas nos a tali fideiussione detenuerunt. et vere durum esse nos polliceri pecuniae, faenoris et expensorum omnium quanquam nos teneremur restitutionem, mercatores vero numismatum restitutionem promittere nolle; sed tantum dicere pro nobis ea Amstelodami futura apud hominem prorsus incognitum.
Dum haec ita pendent Ascanius Samminiati nobis inscijs scripsit ad mercatorem Amstelodamensen ut modum et formulam solvendae pecuniae ampliorem, et absque illa conditione rescriberet. et quum ad illum reverteremur ait se nihil innovaturum usque ad mercatoris tui responsionem, nullum interim novo tractatu locum esse et numismata quae a nobis acceperat restituit.
Haec cogimur tibi enarrare quam moleste exprimere nequeo. semper enim nos minime officiosos et in rebus tuis curandis indiligenter tibi videri iure timebimus. Juro per amicitiae numen nunquam nos huic parem molestiam expertus esse. secula videntur quae praetereunt momenta, dum tuum, et mercatoris responsum expecto, ut libere possint dari numismata quae certo scimus et fideiussione pollicebamur eadem esse quae tu Florentiae vidisti. His accedit quod Passignani nos urget ut pecuniam solvamus numismata nobis vendidisse, nec moras solutionis amplius laturum se dicit. Sed hoc nihil ad te, nam si tuum et mercatoris responsum veniet expectare pretium nostra pecunia numerabimus. Quod magis refert est te interim nummis veteribus et preciosis antiquitatis reliquijs frui non posses. quod si posses, et nos ab omni molestia liberos cupis, quam citisimme responde et mercatori ut libere et absque conditionibus ad Ascanium Samminiati sciberet, iube. hac formula n. aut simili uti debet
“pagate \liberamente/ al M. Andrea Cavalcanti e Carlo Dati scudi cinquecento quali vi consegneranno 112 medaglie d’oro e 770 d’argento con altre di bronzo liberamente rimettendovi a quello essi faranno.” quia si conditiones adeunt novae semper nascentur difficultates.
... Scias igitur nummis argenteis 25 additos fuisse, et omnes summa efficere 770. qui omnes una cum aureijs apud me sunt. Difficillime etiam ab Passignani obtinuimus 146 nummos aereos, quos nobis muneris loco dedit, et nos ut tibi largiemur accepimus. haec te scire nolui ne nutareris numerum et pondum argenteorum crevisse, et ut quam primum rescriberes".
(I am never more eager than when I am writing to you, my Heinsius, the most pleasant of my friends. But I call on God as my witness that I have never taken up my pen in my hands with greater upset or annoyance, than I will write to you today. You will hear in a few words how, in completing the business of the ancient coins, fortune has acted against my friendship and duty towards you, and has thrown up new delays. And forgive me if I relate it in an unrefined and clumsy manner (as they say), so that this should not be any more unclear.
The coins were ready, and had been counted out and paid into the hands of the Florentine merchant, and there was nothing else to do except the payment of the money, when Ascanio Samminiati re-read the order for and manner of paying the money from the Amsterdam merchant and found in it an additional condition, without which the money could not be paid. For your Amsterdam merchant wrote to Ascanio Samminiati that he should pay five hundred scudi to Andrea Cavalcanti and me for the gold, silver and bronze coins, provided that it was agreed that they were the same ones which you had seen in Florence. Samminiati said that he did not know this and could not agree for himself. There and then we swore that these coins were the same. But this did not seem to be enough for Ascanio Samminiati, and he said he to observe the force and specification of the words. Unless we were willing to be bound by this provision: we should promise that the coins were the same and would always be so, and that it any other problem should arise in this matter, it woud be at our risk and loss, and the money would be immediately paid back. We replied that, for your sake, we were willing to suffer all this. And we said that he would have the same coins as a surety and that we would always be available for repaying the money to our God(?), if you should say that they were not the same; and we were ready in addition to pay all the carriage costs and would allow the ancient coins to be restored to us, provided they were the same. Willingly we would undertake such things for a very dear friend, but it would be burdensome to do so for a merchant who was unknown to us, and in giving too much security we would be subject to risk.
When matters were suspended in this way, Ascanio Samminiati said that the money would not be paid, unless he was instructed to do so with a fuller and broader formula by your merchant, or he would hold us as liable for all problems, expenses and even risks of the carriage. The long distances and the hazards of the sea and land and the excessive cleverness of the Amsterdam merchant in this matter deterred us from any such guarantee. And indeed it was hard for us to promise the repayment of money, interest and all expenses, when we were not bound to do so, while the merchants did not want to promise the return of the coins; and to say only on our behalf that the Amsterdam aspects would be in the hands of a man who was completely unknown.
While these matters were unresolved in this way, Ascanio Samminiati, unknown to us, wrote to the Amsterdam merchant, saying that he should rewrite a more open procedure and formula for the paying of the money, and without that condition. And when we went back to him he said that he would start nothing new until he had the reply from your merchant, that meanwhile there was no place for a new agreement and he returned the coins which he had received from us.
I cannot express with what distress we have been compelled to relate this to you. For we are always anxious not to seem really bureaucratic and negligent in looking after your affairs. I swear by the power of friendship that we have never experienced such aggravation as this. The moments which pass seem like centuries, while I await your reply and that of the merchant, so that you can be given the coins which we know for certain and which we promised by our guarantee to be the same ones which you saw in Florence. Add to this that Passignano is pressing us to pay the money and saying that he sold the coins to us and that he will not tolerate any delays in payment any longer. But this will not affect you, for if your reply and that of the merchant comes we will be ready to pay the price with our own money. What matters more is that meanwhile you cannot enjoy the anicent coins, such precious remains from the past. If you can, and if you want us to be freed from all these annoyances, reply as quickly as possible and instruct the merchant that he should write to Ascanio Samminiati unreservedly and without conditions. You should use this form of words or something similar: “pay unreservedly to Mr Andrea Cavalcanti and Carlo Dati five hundred scudi for which they will consign to you 112 gold and 770 silver coins with others in bronze, absolving you from what they will do.” Because if new conditions are added difficulties will aways arise.
... You should know that 25 coins have been added to the silver ones, and altohether they make 770, and they are all in my possesion with the gold ones. With great difficulty we got from Passignano 146 bronze coins, which he gave us as a gift, and we accepted them so that we could present them on you. I didn’t want you to know this in case you were worried that the number and weight of coins had grown. Reply as soon as possible) (Leiden University Library, MS BPL 1920, van Dati no. 14)
