In 1401 the Guild, the most important and oldest of the Florentine guilds, (they were the representitives of the commerce and industry in Medieval Florence), decided to donate a second baptistery door of major importance because it wuold face the entrance to the Cathedral. Many foreing and Florenthine artists participated in the compition, among them: Lorenzo Ghiberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, and Jacopo della Quercia. They were to presnt a bronze panel with the theme, "Sacrifice of Isaac". After a somewhat heated discussion among the 34 member jury of Consels and experts the commission was awarted to Lorenzo di Bartoluccio Ghiberti. According to Giorgio Vasari's,"Vite", a young man who wouldn't pass for 20 had created a work of perfection, beautifully composed with figures moving gracefully.
It took Lorenzo Ghiberti almost 23 years to complete the 34.000 pound door with its ornamental flowers, fruit festoons and animals. It costed 22.000 florin. Quite a sum if you consider that only a few years earlier the Pope surrendered the city Sansepolcro to the Florentine dominion for 25.000 florin, only 3.000 more than the cost of the door. The door can be seen on the side of the Baptistery facing Via Martelli. The 28 bronze panels depict the life of Christ, the Prophets and Evangelists.

The florin was first minted in Florence in 1252. It weighed 3.53 grams of 23 carat gold. A portrait of Jhon the Baptist appeared on oneside of the coin and on the other side the Florentine iris. It was the most widely used monetary unit in the European markets. Used by Popes and Emperors it was the Medieval "Dollar".