Post Your Papal States Coins - Reverse Chronological Schedule By Ruler

Very nice!

Nice examples so far.

Thanks for getting us started, @Hondo!

I like that those two coins show two very different design styles. The first one looks like lots of other mid-19th century coins from continental Europe: a bust of the sovereign on one side, and a simple statement of the denomination on the other (think of the French centime coppers, etc.).
But that was unusual for Papal coins. The copper coins almost never had a bust of the pope until the 19th century.

The second type is more typical of papal coppers, showing the pope's personal coat of arms on one side, topped with the symbols of his spiritual and secular authority. Pope Pius IX was born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, so those are the arms of the Mastai-Ferretti family.

Time to move to Gregory XVI (February 1831-June 1846) and the Sede Vacante of 1846. He was born Bartolomeo Cappellari in the Republic of Venice.

Here is an 1832 50 Baiocchi coin, KM# 1316:



As sometimes occurs, there is a personal link between the imagery and the pope. When Bartolomeo decided to pursue his spiritual vocation, he joined the Calmoldolese order, which was founded by Romualdus (who is pictured on the reverse) early in the 11th century.

This is one of the last Papal States coins to bear religious imagery. There was a coinage reform in 1835, after which the reverses only bore the denomination, the single exception being an 1846 Sede Vacante coin. I know we have a member who specializes in sede vacante types, so maybe it will show up?

Very nice!

Thanks for checking in, @Bacchus2.

I thought we'd see coins from more members, but it's early days (most of mine are from the 18th and 17th centuries).

Meanwhile, a little history ...

Papal States began (notionally) in 756 A.D. when Pepin defeated the Lombard king Aistulf, who had reneged on a treaty with the pope, and confiscated papal lands.
In what came to be known as the Donation of Pepin, the southern portion of the former Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna including the Duchy of the Pentapolis were granted to the Pope, making the pope a significant temporal sovereign for the first time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donation_of_Pepin
There is no precise record of the territory involved, but it likely covered major parts of the current Italian regions of Romagna (Ravenna and Forli), Marche (Ancona, Pesaro, Urbino), and Lazio (Rome) and smaller bits of Tuscany and Umbria:

Map ot Italy circa 600 A.D.

For centuries, the popes could not muster significant strength to effectively rule these lands, which instead were governed independently as many small city-states (republics, lordships, bishoprics). Only in late medieval to early modern times (15th-16th century) did the popes possess enough power to begin "clawing" back the ruling authority in these places as dynastic lines died out, or through war and diplomacy.
1506 - Republic of Bologna
1532 - Republic of Ancona
1534 - Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (made a hereditary duchy for the son of Pope Paul III)
1598 - Duchy of Ferrara
1624 - Duchy of Urbino (including Gubbio, Pesaro, etc.)

The popes remained significant termporal sovereigns until the end of the 18th century. Finally in 1870 the Papal States as a significant sovereign territory in central Italy disappeared during th eunification of the Italian kingdom.

Interesting topic and some great coins here!

But I don't have any of these older Papal coins to post here.