Papal Coinage To 1605.pdf

PAPAL

COINAGE

To 1605

NOTES ON PAPAL COINAGE

The Papal Mint is the pope's institute for the production of hard cash. Papal Mint may also refer to the buildings in Avignon, Rome

and elsewhere which used to house the mint. (The Italian word for mint is Zecca).

The right to coin money being one of the regalia (sovereign prerogatives), there can be no papal coins of earlier date than that of

the temporal power of the popes. Nevertheless, there are coins of Pope Zacharias (741-52), of Gregory III (Ficoroni, "Museo

Kircheriano"), and possibly of Gregory II (715-741). There is no doubt that these pieces, two of which are of silver, are true coins,

and not merely a species of medals, like those which were distributed as "presbyterium" at the coronation of the popes since the

time of Valentine (827). Their stamp resembles that of the Byzantine and Merovingian coins of the seventh and eighth centuries,

and their square shape is also found in Byzantine pieces. Those that bear the inscription GREII PAPE — SCI PTR (Gregorii

Papæ — Sancti Petri) cannot be attributed to Pope Gregory IV (827-44), because of the peculiarity of minting. The existence of

these coins, while the popes yet recognized the Byzantine domination, is explained by Hartmann (Das Königreich Italien, Vol. III),

who believes that, in the eighth century, the popes received from the emperors the attributes of "Præfectus Urbis". Under the

empire, coins that were struck in the provinces bore the name of some local magistrate, and those coins of Gregory and of

Zacharias are simply imperial Byzantine pieces, bearing the name of the first civil magistrate of the City of Rome.

There are no coins of pope Stephen III or of pope Paul I, who reigned when the Duchy of Rome was already independent of the

Eastern Empire; the first true papal coins are those of Adrian I, from whose time until the reign of pope John XIV (984) the popes

coined money at Rome.

There is no pontifical money of a date between the last-named year and 1305; this is explained, in part, by the fact that the

Senate of Rome, which sought to replace the papacy in the temporal government of the city, took over the mint in 1143. On the

other hand, Prince Alberic had already coined money in his own name. The coins of the Senate of Rome usually bear the inscrip-

tion "ROMA CAPUT MUNDI", or, S. P. Q. R., or both, with or without emblems. In 1188 the mint was restored to pope Clement III,

with the agreement that half of its profits should be assigned to the sindaco, or mayor. The Senate, meanwhile, continued to coin

money, and there is no reference on the coins of that time to the papal authority. In the thirteenth century the Sindaco caused his

own name to be stamped upon the coins, and, consequently, we have coins of Brancaleone, of Charles I of Anjou, of Francesco

Anguillara, viceroy of Robert of Naples, etc.; so did King Ladislao. Cola di Rienzi, during his brief tribunate, likewise struck coins,

with the inscription: N. TRIBUN. AUGUST.: ROMA CAPU. MU.

Papal coins reappeared with the removal of the pontifical Court to Avignon, although there exists a single coin that is referred to

Benedict XI (1303-4), with the legend COITAT. VENASIN; as, however, this pope never resided in Venaissin, which had belonged

to the Holy See since 1274, the coin should be referred to Benedict XII. There are coins of all the popes from John XXII to Pius

IX.

The popes, and also the Senate when it coined money, appear to have used the imperial mint of Rome, which was on the slope

of the Campidoglio, not far from the Arch of Septimius Severus; but in the fifteenth century the mint was near the bank of Santo

Spirito. Finally, in 1665, Alexander VII moved it to the rear of the apse of St. Peter's. Bernini invented for it a machine to do the

work more rapidly, and Francesco Girardini furnished a very sensitive balance; so that the mint of Rome was technically the most

perfect one of those times. In 1845 Pius IX equipped it with the most modern appliances.

The administration of the mint was at first entrusted to the cardinal camerlengo; direct supervision, however, was exercised by the

senate, from the time at least when that body took possession of the mint, until the reign of pope Martin V. The sindaco and the

conservators of the Camera Capitolina appointed the masters of the mint, while the minting was witnessed by the heads of the

guild of goldsmiths and silversmiths. In 1322 John XXII created the office of treasurer for the mint of Avignon, and its incumbent,

little by little, made himself independent of the camerlengo. Later, the office of prelate president of the mint was created.

According to Lunadori (Relaz. della Corte di Roma, 1646), the establishments for the coining of money were in charge of a con-

gregation of cardinals.

Rome was not the only city of the Pontifical States that had a mint: prior to the year 1000, there existed at Ravenna the former

imperial mint, which was ceded in 996 to Archbishop Gerberto by Gregory V; there were mints also at Spoleto and at Benevento,

former residences of Lombard dukes. The Archbishop of Ravenna, who was a feudatory of the emperor rather than of the pope,

coined money as long as his temporal power over that city and its territory lasted. The mint of the Emperor Henry VI was estab-

lished at Bologna in 1194, and nearly all of the coins struck there bear the motto BONONIA DOCET, or BONONIA MATER STU-

DIORUM. The baiocchi of Bologna were called bolognini; the gold bolognino was equivalent to a gold sequin. The lira, also a

Bolognese coin, was worth 20 bolognini. These coins were struck in the name of the commune; it is only from the time when

Bologna was recovered by the Holy See, under Clement VI, that Bolognese coins may be regarded as papal.

All papal coins, with rare exceptions, bear the name of the pope, preceded (until the time of Paul II) by a Greek cross, and nearly

all of the more ancient ones bear, either on the obverse or on the reverse, the words S. PETRUS, and some of them, the words

S. PAULUS also. From Leo III to the Ottonian dynasty, the coins bear the name of the Holy Roman Emperor as well as that of the

pope. After the sixteenth century the coat of arms of the pope alone frequently appears on pontifical coins. There are also found

images of the Saviour, or of saints, symbolical figures of men or of animals, the keys (which appear for the first time on the coins

of Benevento) etc. From the sixteenth century to the eighteenth, Biblical or moral phrases are added, in allusion to the saint or to

the symbol that is stamped upon the coin, e.g. MONSTRA TE ESSE MATREM, SPES NOSTRA, SUB TUUM PRÆSIDIUM, TOTA

PULCERA, SUPRA FIRMAM PETRAM, DA RECTA SAPERE (during the Conclave), UBI THESAURUS IBI COR, CRESCENTEM

SEQUITUR CURA PECUNIAM, HILAREM DATOREM DILIGIT DEUS, PRO PRETIO ANIMÆ, FERRO NOCENTIUS AURUM, IN

SUDORE VULTUS, CONSERVATÆ PEREUNT, TOLLE ET PROIICE, etc. Sometimes allusion is made to an historical event, as

the acquisition of Ferrara, or the deliverance of Vienna from the Turks(1683), or to some concession of the pope to his subjects,

or to a jubilee year. From the time of Clement X the coins struck at Rome bear a minute representation of the coat of arms of the

prelate in charge of the mint, a custom that obtained until 1817. The only instance of a cardinal camerlengo stamping his coat of

arms on the coins during the lifetime of the pope is that of Cardinal Armellini, under Adrian VI, in the case of four grossi.

The mints outside of Rome stamped the coins with the arms of their respective cities, or with those of the cardinal legate, of the

vice-legate, or of the governor; thus, Cardinal Scipione Borghese in 1612 struck coins at Avignon with his own name and arms,

omitting the name of the pope, an example that was followed a year later by the pro-legate Cardinal Filonardi. The city very often

placed the image of its patron saint on its coins. The date came to be stamped on coins that were struck during the vacancies of

the Holy See, occasionally at first, and later as a rule; it rarely appears on other coins before 1550; the practice became general

in the seventeenth century, the year of the Christian era or that of the pontificate being used; and Gregory XVI established it by

law, as also the requirement that each coin should bear upon it an expression of its value. At Bologna as early as the seventeenth

century, the value of gold or silver coins was usually indicated with the figures 20, 40, 80, etc., i.e. so many bolognini or baiocchi;

at Rome, in the eighteenth century, nearly all the copper coins bore an indication of their value. The rim of papal coins rarely bore

an inscription; at most, the monogram of the city in which the coin was struck was stamped upon it. From the sixteenth century,

the engravers, also, put their ciphers on the coins; among these engravers may be named Benvenuto Cellini, Francesco

Raibolini, called il Francia (Bologna), the four Hamerani, Giulio Romano (trident), Cavaliere Lucenti, Andrea Perpenti etc. Until the

time of Pius VI, the dies for the mint remained the property of the engravers.

The Byzantine monetary system is followed in the papal coinage until the reign of Leo III, after which the system of the Frankish

Empire obtains. John XXII adopted the Florentine system, and coined gold forms, but the weight of this coin varied from 22 to 30

carats (4.4 to 6 g), until Gregory XI reduced it to the original 24 carats (4.8 g); but deterioration came again, and then there were

two kinds of florins, the papal florin, which maintained the old weight, and the florin di Camera, the two being in the ratio of 69

papal florins = 100 florins di Camera = 1 gold pound = 10 carlini. The ducat was coined in the papal mint from the year 1432; it

was a coin of Venetian origin that circulated with the florin, which in 1531 was succeeded by the scudo, a piece of French origin

(écu) that remained the monetary unit of the Pontifical States. At the same time, there appeared the zecchino. The ancient papal

florin was equal to 2 scudi and 11 baiocchi (1 baiocco = 0.01 scudi); one ducat was equal to one scudo and 9 baiocchi. The

scudo also underwent fluctuations, in the market and in its weight: the so called scudo delle stampe (1595) was worth 184·2

baiocchi, that is, a little less than 2 scudi. Benedict XIII re-established the good quality of the alloy, but under Pius VI it again dete-

riorated. In 1835 Gregory XVI regulated the monetary system of the Pontifical States, establishing the scudo as the unit, and

dividing it into 100 baiocchi, while the baiocco was divided into 5 quattrini (the quattrino, until 1591, had been equal to ¼ of a

baiocco). The scudo was coined both in gold and in silver; there were pieces of 10 scudi, called Gregorine; and pieces of 5 scudi,

and of 2½ scudi were also coined. The scudo of the eighteenth century was equal to l·65 scudi of Pius VII, which last was adopt-

ed by Gregory XVI; the zecchino was worth 2·2 scudi. The scudo is equal to 5·3 lire in the monetary system of the Latin Union.

The fractional silver coins were the half scudo, and the giulio, called also paolo, which was equal to 0·1 seudi. The latter coin was

created by Julius II in order to put the carlini of Charles of Anjou out of circulation, these coins being of bad alloy. There were

pieces of 2 giulii that were called papetti, at Rome, and lire at Bologna, a name that was later given to them officially. A grosso,

introduced in 1736, was equal to half a giulio (25 baiocchi); there were also the mezzogrosso, and the testone = 30 giulii. The

copper coins were the baiocco or soldo (which was called bolognino, at Bologna) and the 2 baiocchi piece. The name baiocco is

derived from that of the city of Bayeux.

Vitalian - 30 July 657 to 27 Jan. 672

Pope Saint Vitalianus was pope from July 30, 657 until January 27, 672.

He was born in Segni, Lazio, the son of one Anastasius.

After the death of Pope Eugene I, on June 2 or 3, 657, Vitalian was elected his successor, and

was consecrated and enthroned on July 30.

Like Eugene, Vitalian tried to restore the connection with Constantinople by making friendly

advances to the Eastern Emperor Constans II (641-668) and to prepare the way for the settle-

ment of the Monothelite controversy. He sent letters (synodica) announcing his elevation to the

emperor and to Patriarch Peter of Constantinople, who was inclined to Monothelitism. The

emperor confirmed the privileges of the Roman Church and sent to Rome a codex of the

Gospels in a cover of gold richly ornamented with precious stones as a good-will gesture.

The Patriarch Peter also replied, although his answer was somewhat noncommittal as to

Monothelitism, a belief he defended. In his letter, he gave the impression of being in accord with

the pope, whose letter to Peter had expounded the Catholic Faith. Thus ecclesiastical inter-

course between Rome and Constantinople was restored, but the mutual reserve over the dog-

matic question of Monothelitism remained. Vitalian's name was entered on the diptychs of the Byzantine Church--the only name of

a pope so entered between the reign of Honorius I (d. 638) and the Sixth Ecumenical Council of 680-81.

The inclusion of Vitalian's name on the diptych was seen as some as being too conciliatory towards heresy, but that charge was

unfounded.

Vitalian showed reciprocity toward Constans, when the latter came to Rome in 663, spending twelve days there during a campaign

against the Lombards. On 5 July the pope and members of the Roman clergy, met the emperor at the sixth milestane and accom-

panied him to St. Peter's, where the emperor offered gifts. The following Sunday, Constans went in state to St. Peter's, offered a

pallium wrought with gold, and was present during the Mass celebrated by the pope. The emperor dined with the pope on the fol-

lowing Saturday, attended Mass again on Sunday at St. Peter's, and after Mass took leave of the pope. On his departure Constans

removed a large number of bronze artworks, including the bronze tiles from the roof of the Pantheon, which had been dedicated to

Christian worship.

Constans then moved on to Sicily, oppressed the population, and was assassinated at Syracuse in 668. Vitalian supported

Constans' son Constantine IV against a usurper and thus helped him attain the throne. As Constantine had no desire to maintain

the Monothelite decree (typus) of his father, Pope Vitalian made use of this inclination to take a more decided stand against

Monothelitism and to win the emperor over to orthodoxy. In this latter attempt, however, he did not succeed. The Monothelite patri-

arch Theodore of Constantinople removed Vitalian's name from the diptychs. It was not until the Sixth Ecumenical Council (681)

that Monothelitism was suppressed, and Vitalian's name was replaced on the diptychs of the Byzantine Church.

Pope Vitalian was successful in improving relations with England, where the Anglo-Saxon and British clergies were divided regard-

ing various ecclesiastical customs. At the Synod of Streaneshalch, King Oswy of Northumberland accepted Roman practices

regarding the keeping of Easter, and the shape of the tonsure. Together with King Egbert of Kent, he sent the priest Wighard to

Rome, to be consecrated there after the death of Archbishop Deusdedit of Canterbury in 664, but Wighard died at Rome of the

plague.

Vitalian wrote to King Oswy promising to send a suitable bishop to England as soon as possible. Hadrian, abbot of a Neopolitan

abbey, was selected, but he considered himself unworthy to be bishop. At his recommendation a highly educated monk, Theodore

of Tarsus, who understood both Latin and Greek, was chosen as Archbishop of Canterbury and consecrated on 26 March, 668.

Accompanied by Abbot Hadrian, Theodore went to England, where he was recognized as the head of the Church of England.

The archiepiscopal See of Ravenna reported directly to Rome. Archbishop Maurus of Ravenna (648-71) sought to end this

dependence, and thus make his see autocephalous. When Pope Vitalian called upon him to justify his theological views, he

refused to obey and declared himself independent of Rome. The pope excommunicated him, but Maurus did not submit, and even

went so far as to excommunicate the pope.

Emperor Constans II sided with the archbishop and issued an edict removing the Archbishop of Ravenna from the patriarchal juris-

diction of Rome, and ordained that the former should receive the pallium from the emperor. The successor of Maurus, Reparatus,

was in fact consecrated, in 671. It was not until the reign of Pope Leo II (682-83) that the independence of the See of Ravenna

was suppressed: Emperor Constantine IV repealed the edict of Constans and confirmed the ancient rights of the Roman See over

the See of Ravenna.

Vitalian enforced his authority as supreme pontiff in the Eastern Church. Bishop John of Lappa, had been deposed by a synod

under the presidency of the Metropolitan Paulus. John appealed to the pope, and was imprisoned by Paulus for so doing. He

escaped, however, and went to Rome, where Vitalian held a synod in December, 667, to investigate the matter, and pronounced

John guiltless. He then wrote to Paulus demanding the restoration of John to his diocese, and the return of the monasteries which

had been unjustly taken from him. At the same time the pope directed the metropolitan to remove two deacons who had married

after consecration.

The introduction of church organ music is traditionally believed to date from the time of Vitalian's papacy.

Vitalian was considered a firm ruler of the Church, one who preserved discipline. He died January 27, 672. Venerated as a saint,

his feast is kept on that date.

PAPAL COINS

CONSTANTINE IV (668-685) and POPE ST. VITALIAN (657-672).

AR 1/8 Siliqua. Rome mint. 0.26 g.

Obv.:Crowned and beardless facing bust, wearing chlamys and holding globus

cruciger

Rev.: Elongated monogram of Pope Vitalian.

Reference: M.D. O’Hara and I. Vecchi, “A Find of Byzantine Silver from the

Mint of Rome for the Period AD 641-752,” SNR 64 (1985), 15; SB 1233A;

Berman 8 (Pope Stephen III or IV). EF, flan chip, some weakness in obverse.

Extremely rare.

This class was unknown before 1985 and is of considerable interest. It was

during the pontificate of Vitalian that the first visit by an Emperor to Rome in

over three hundred years, by Constans II in 663, ended in a public relations

disaster. Constans II’s campaigns against the Lombards invariably meant the

ruthless extortion of his Italian subjects, added to which the infamous despoil-

ing of the gilded roof of the Pantheon gave him a reputation almost as bad as

Gaiseric.

Estimate $3000 Sold For $4750

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