Three Saints Who Lost Their Way?

Ah, interesting! Looking forward to the other coins!

Saint Geminianus seems to have a full schedule. Besides Modena, he is also patron saint for Guiglia, Massa Finalese, Pieve d'Olmi, Pontremoli, San Gimignano, and Vielmur-sur-Agout (in France). I suppose those other towns were too small to have a mint.

Yes @tdz. The topic of saints in numismatics is an interesting one, especially coming from someone published in this field.

I look forward to seeing the rest of this thread develop!

Very interesting!

That is a bit of a head-scratcher @tdz. At first, I was wondering if it might be from Mantua, Ireland, since there is a "St. Patrick's Bed" there, but that shield on the rev with the four eagles is clearly from the more famous Mantua.

Well, I'm not Italian, but I like pasta . And the Duke of Mantua, Charles II Gonzaga, who issued this coin, is on my radar because he was also Duke and Prince of the French states of Nevers, Rethel and Arches. And from those I have some of his coins, so naturally I felt inclined to look more closely at this mystery!

To begin with, the 1661 coin shown here has a precedent. In 1633 and 1635, Charles I Gonzaga (father of Charles II) issued the "same" coin for SANCTVS PATRITIVS: https://catalogo-mantova.lamoneta.i...eta/MN-MNO/7.

About the Italian connection, there is actually a well dedicated to Saint Patrick in Italy - Pozzo di San Patrizio. It is located in Orvieto, about 120 km north of Rome. That is quite far from Mantua, which is another 350 km to the north. And, to be honest, while the well is from the 16th century, it could be that it wasn't (re)named after St Patrick until the 19th century.

There is also a fresco of St Patrick's Purgatory in the town of Todi, some 40 km from the well. It was made in 1346, plastered over in 1600, and rediscovered in 1974. Theoretically, Charles I (born 1580) could have seen it, but being located quite far from his Italian possessions, it is unlikely.

Finally, we have St Patrick's Sanctuary in Colzate in northern Italy. It is from the 15th century and at least located in the same part of Italy as the Gonzaga feudalities Mantua and (Casale) Montferrato. But still, neither Mantua nor Montferrato has any direct association with St Patrick . . .

There was, however, also a chapel dedicated to St Patrick in Charles Gonzaga's Principality of Arches, in northern France. In its capital Charleville (today Charleville-Mézières), there were chapels for both St Patrick and St Brigit, two of Ireland's patron saints. (I don't know if the chapels still exist.) Why that was so is a bit unclear, but it may have to do with Charles I bringing over Irish monks for support in his fight against the Protestants. And why St Patrick then does not appear on the coins of Arches (or Nevers and Rethel), but only on his Italian coins, is also unclear. Perhaps St Patrick was better known in Italy after all, with at least a couple of places where he was revered?

Eureka! I did not think to pursue the Gonzaga possessions in France, though I knew it existed. I am sure the connection you've found for Gonzagas and St. Patrick is the right one.

As for whether the coin is of Mantua or Casale, yes, the coins of the Gonzaga domains are confusing because from the mid-16th century, the Gonzagas are not only Dukes of Mantua but also of Monferrato (you can see that his titles on this coin are DVX MANT MON E C).
And I should have thought to look more deeply in Casale (where the coins feature the amusingly named Saint Evasius).

@erafjel, I've downloaded the article and will take a look when I have a bit of energy to work on my Italian.

Meanwhile, both the CNI (Vol. IV, p. 381 #13/14) and Varesi have it as a coin of Mantua, and there is a very similar design for a parpagliola with Saint Barbara that is clearly from Mantua, where she is one of the known patrons:

Source: InAsta

The St. Patrick type does not come up at auctiom very often. InAsta lists it under Mantua, but Bertolami lists it as Casale.

So ... maybe Charles II asked to have a coin of this denomination for each place, with a different saint to distinguish them?


If so, it would be my second saint coin of Casale. The other is this very nice cornuto with Saint Theodore, from the pre-Gonzaga days of Casale:



Saint Theodore's connection to Casale is at least explainable. Theodore I was the first marquis of Montferrat from the Paleologus family, the last ruling family of the Byzantine empire, where Theodore was a popular saint. This coin was struck by Boniface IV Paleologus, the fourth great-grandson of Theodore I, who probably used the image to remind folks of the longstanding tradition of rulers from this family.