Built between 1536 and 1548, the heavily rusticated stone structure, originally with only two floors, was designed by Jacopo Sansovino in place of an earlier mint specifically to ensure safety from fire and to provide adequate security for the silver and gold deposits.

Giorgio Vasari considered it the finest, richest, and strongest of Sansovino's buildings ("...bellissimo, ricchissimo, e fortissimo edificio de' suoi è la Zecca di Venezia...").

An earlier mint located in the parish of San Bartolomeo across the Grand Canal from the Rialto market was closed and the parcel of land sold by the government in 1112.

[note 2] Evidence suggests a subsequent cessation of minting in the mid-twelfth century during which time the coinage of Verona seems to have been used for local transactions while Byzantine coins were used for long-distance trade.

[2] Local minting resumed when ducal coinage was first issued during the reign of Vitale II Michiel (in office 1156–1172)[3] and increased significantly when the grosso was introduced.

[7][8] The structure is delimited on all sides: to the west by a canal, to the north by the tenth-century hospice for pilgrims, to the east by a series of hostelries and the meat market, and to the south by a row of lean-to stalls that were rented by the procurators of Saint Mark de supra to vendors of sausage and cheese.

[9] Following an inspection by Doge Andrea Gritti (in office 1523–1538) to verify conditions, the Council of Ten, the magistracy responsible for the defence of vital state interests, deliberated on 4 December 1535 that the entire mint was to be rebuilt with stone vaults in order to eliminate the use of wooden beams.

Independently of the need to provide greater fire protection and security as well as space for increased production, the mint was intended to symbolize Venice's financial recovery from years of famine and war.

[note 7] It was an integral part of the renovatio urbis, the vast architectural programme begun under Doge Andrea Gritti to express Venice's renewed self-confidence and reaffirm its international prestige after the earlier defeat at Agnadello during the War of Cambrai and the subsequent Peace of Bologna which sanctioned Habsburg hegemony on the Italian peninsula at the end of the War of the League of Cognac.

The programme, which included the library (1537) and the loggia of the bell tower (1538), called for the transformation of Saint Mark’s Square from an antiquated medieval town centre with food vendors, money changers, and even latrines into a classical forum.

[16] Sansovino's understanding of Vitruvian principles and his direct knowledge of ancient Roman prototypes, garnered from his time in Rome, provided the expertise necessary to enact the programme.

In Venice, such a combination of heavy-cut Istrian limestone and classical orders had already been used by Mauro Codussi for San Michele in Isola (begun 1469) and, in a more muted form, for Palazzo Corner Spinelli (1497–1500).

[26][27] Significantly, Sebastiano Serlio, in his seven-volume architectural treatise Tutte l'opere d'architettura et prospetiva, considered the solution of clean-cut capitals and bases with crude, rusticated columns to represent great strength and to be appropriate to a fortress.

[28] The windows on the Doric level, originally protected by heavy iron grilles, are fit tightly between the engaged columns with no exposed surface, creating the impression that they are deeply recessed in a thick wall and contributing further to the sense of impregnability.

The floor that was later added employs the Ionic order, and although it continues the rustication, the exposed walls around the windows and the delicate tympanums overhead, more typical of residential architecture, contrast with the design of the original structure and diminish the overall massive feel.

[30] The number of employees consequently varied, but in addition to the salaried gastaldi (foremen), fabri (blacksmiths who forged dies), intaidori (die engravers), pexadori (weighers), and fanti (unskilled workers with menial tasks), the staff routinely included skilled labourers paid at a piecework rate: afinadori (refiners), fondadori (casters who cast blank flans), mendadori (emenders who controlled the prescribed weight tolerances), and stampadori (moneyers who struck coins) for both the silver mint (lower floor) and the gold mint (upper floor).

[note 15] In addition, several magistracies existed to provide oversight: The Council of Ten was ultimately responsible for the control of the mint in consideration of its vital interest for the security of the state.

The result with regard to the first-floor windows was highly criticized by the art historian Camillo Boito who noted that the heavy protruding lintels had been conceived with the iron grilles underneath as a unified whole in order to give the façade a sense of strength and impenetrability.

Without the accompanying ironwork as a visual support, the lintels appeared precariously balanced, and the windows were an "awkward eyesore, devoid of any common sense" ("una bruttura goffa e priva di senso comune").

[41] In 1900, after the Chamber of Commerce declared its willingness to vacate the building prior to the expiration of the lease, the Italian government made the decision to utilize the structure for the Marciana Library.

The proposal to use the Zecca was first made by the librarian Carlo Castallani in 1885 and gained the support of the mayor of Venice, Filippo Grimani, and the Venetian senator and historian Pompeo Molmenti who intervened with the government.