In 1255 the Palazzo del Popolo, later called the Bargello, was built. The demolition of the nobles’ towers, the lowering of their height, dates back to those years, a measure of both public order and symbolic and moral.

The decade of the Primo Popolo saw the extraordinary flourishing of economic activities, also supported by its own gold currency, the florin: introduced in 1252, it was the first gold coin in Western Europe, thanks to its value both in weight and in alloy that remained extraordinarily constant (San Giovanni ‘un vuole inganni is a Florentine proverb that says how the effigy of Saint John the Baptist on the florin was a guarantee of quality), ensuring an extraordinary diffusion throughout Europe and the Mediterranean basin, as a currency for important economic transactions, large payments and international loans.