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 Replies: 27 / Views: 1,095 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2532 Posts |
Hi, I've been working on a web page showcasing my coins from the Papal States and Vatican City. I've tried to go a bit deeper than just show the picture but unpick what the details of the coins actually tell us - from heraldry to symbolism and more. Doing this is a great learning activity as it forces me to actually research the history. https://diadumenian.com/Papal%20Sta...0States.htmlIt's very much a work in progress but happy to take any feedback or corrections. As I was doing this I noticed that some coins (particularly from the early 70's seemed to be "off" An example is this one below. If you notice the "L 50" is in the exact centre of the bottom yet the stars on either side are not aligned. Just another facet of this fascinating area.  |
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Valued Member
United States
271 Posts |
What a lovely collection and beautiful website. Keep up the good work!
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Moderator
 United States
157664 Posts |
Very interesting!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4905 Posts |
That's a cool way to exhibit your Vatican coins Bacchus. You definitely have me interested in some of those older coins now.
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Pillar of the Community
 United Kingdom
2532 Posts |
Hi everyone - I've added another 20 or so coins to my Papal States / Vatican city web page (link above) I was adding this one and noticed the date seems to be an overdate, but I'm not sure what of. Would anyone have a reference to indicate what the underlying number might be? It's certainly not rare as I have 2 of them. thanks in advance  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
16067 Posts |
Great website, Bacchus2! I've got various Vatican coins but no full sets from the pre-Euro period. Many of these coins I've only seen on a visit to the Vatican Museums in 2016. In the early 1980s I worked as a tour manager escorting groups of tourists around Europe and occasionally visited Rome. I would buy things like postcards from the gift shop at the Vatican just to get Vatican coins in change. Then they tended to give 100-Lire coins but in 2016 I got a couple of 50-eurocent coins!
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2532 Posts |
Thanks Rob.
I was one of those tourists recently and was really impressed with Rome so I hope to go back soon.
I not to collect Euros as I don't particularly like them (I find them a bit soulless) but I have the pre-Euro sets from 1960 to 2001 bar a couple.
I'm really more interested in the pre 1870 coins so hope to focus there. The varieties are really quite extensive.
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Moderator
United States
157664 Posts |
Excellent! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1805 Posts |
Isn't the coin at the top of the post rotated just a bit? Here's where the vertical lines would fall, showing a similar, but a bit different result. I use wonderfully powerful tools from Dino-Lite, such as grid patterns, calibrated measures and transparency mode to compare my good coins to the fake coins. Another essential is the X_Y table with rotation for precise alignment before snapping the pics. I like your advanced technical aspect to studying coins. For Papal States & Vatican I presume you may be a friend of the King of Bermania?  Edited by Albert
02/04/2025 12:35 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2532 Posts |
Hi Albert. Thanks for that. I use Paint Shop Pro for my picture editing which has basically the same rotating feature. I think there is still an issue here as if you look at the distance between the star and the L, it's much greater than that between the 0 and the following star. It really should be equidistant. Sorry I'm not familiar with the King of Bermania. Alas I don't move in such exaulted circles. &  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1805 Posts |
The website and content certainly is impressive.
I thought for sure you might know Allen.
An authority on coins such as your interest & study.
Edited by Albert
02/04/2025 1:49 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2532 Posts |
Thanks for that suggestion. Having a much more knowledgeable contact is always useful.
My aim is to show how much that can be learned from generally inexpensive coins with all the history and symbolism that they contain.
It's certainly enjoyable for me and creating the webpage gives me an extra goal to strive for.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
6895 Posts |
Super display!
I've got a decent number of papal states coins because of one of my collecting themes, and have contributed some of the Numista listings (especally Ferrara).
Like you, I've enjoyed learning the history, and especially how similar this state was to any other principality in medieval/Renaissance Italy (or Europe for that matter).
Just like many other medieval principalities, the coats of arms featured on the coins are the personal arms of each ruling pope, not a "Papal States" or Vatican City coat of arms as is used today. And of course they fought wars, acquired territory, engaged in all manner of intrigue, etc. just like any other sovereign state at that time.
Do you aspire to an OFER (On From Every Reign), or similar collection?
Edited by tdziemia
02/04/2025 4:10 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2532 Posts |
Quote:
"Do you aspire to an OFER (On From Every Reign), or similar collection?" Yes... and No. I'm aware that some are quite difficult to get so while it would certainly be interesting to aspire to - I'm not going to get fixated on it. I'll just collect what takes my interest. This is the line I take with all my other coin areas or else there madness lies....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6895 Posts |
Likewise here.
I collect cons struck in Ferrara since I used to travel there often for business. The more interesting types to me pre-date their incorporation into the Papal States in 1598, but I've got some later Papal issues, especially 18th c. (the mint there was closed in 1751 I believe).
Beyond that, the Papal States are a great source of coins with images of saints, which is currently my most active collecting theme. Some well known renaissance sculptors were employed there as engravers, resulting in all kinds of attractive designs (as you know).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6895 Posts |
I just enjoyed browsing through your nice collection over morning coffee. Some beautiful 19th century coppers  I think the only coins where I've got the same are the Benedict XIV Ravenna quattrino and the Pius XII 5L with St. Peter in the boat. I wasn't aware of of those 20th century types depicting St. Michael, who was not a saint normally associated with Rome, which makes them unusual. Also liked the 1967 50L with the very unusual depiction of Saint Paul on horseback (his normal "attributes" are a sword and a book). A few editing opportunities I noticed (I hope you won't mind): - For the Innocent XI quattrino, you have Background info on the Medici coat of arms that I think you meant to have up at the Pius IV giulio (which is a really nice coin!) - The Clement VIII entry looks like maybe there was supposed to be a second coin there? Under LEGEND it starts "1604 Clement VIII's crest on obverse..." but there is no coin shown with a crest. And under BACKGROUND it says "Unknown mint" but the coin you show is from Bologna mint. More importantly ... Your Clement VIII Bologna quattrino appears to be dated 1603, and it differs from KM# 5, which is only for 1604. All examples of the 1604 quattrino that I could find have the date in the exergue below the lion (not below the inscription). I could not find another example of a 1603 quattrino sale. However, it is known. The CNI lists it (Corpus Nummorun Italicorum, Vol. X, p.132, #39):  Possibly it is also listed in either the Muntoni or Berman catalogs, but I don't have either. So, congratulations on possessing a pretty rare quattrino! Edited by tdziemia
02/06/2025 9:04 pm
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Replies: 27 / Views: 1,095 |
Posted 11/03/2024 1:08 pm
