The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-08-23
PApAL HISTORY IN COINS
A. SERIES THAT EXTENDS OVER
A THOUSAND YEARS.

Adrian I. the First Pope TO Coin Money;
Leo KIN. the Last-Coin That Recently
Completed the Vatican CoI~lecton-The
"sede yacante" BeFies-Rarc Types.
Not the least interesting OF the Pope's
Jubilee gifts was the unique gold coin OF
Pope Innocent TX. which. recently ex-
humed at Acqui. Italy. was contended TOT
by coin collectors. King Victor Emmanuel
being an unsuccessful competitor.
This coin. the only one In existence OF
the reign Of innocent TX. was needed to
make the Vatican collection Of papal coins
complete.
The papal coins exhibit the portraits
Of. many Of the Popes and their costs Of
arms, and furnish metallic history Of the
coinage Of the Church from the nrst issues
in the latter part OF the eighth century
down to 1870, when the Papal States wero
annexed 10 Italy and the Tapal mint ceased
operations.
The papal series Of coins Ia n OF the
very longest. covering 1.iSa years. The
first Pope to issue coins was Adrian /. The
coins Of Europe were then largely in imi-
tation Of those OF the byzantine Empire.
whose gold byzants were generally used
throughout the Continent. and the coin OF
Pope Adrian was a fair example OF the
coinage Of the times. 1t showed q full
face portrait. presumably Of ct. Peter. on
the diverse. surrounded by the inscrip-
ton "Hadrianus P. p and the GROSS on
the reverse. very much after tho style OF
the Byzantine pieces.
Many Of the early issues Of the Popes
show the name Of the reigning Pope and
q representation OF either st. Peter or st.
Paul. Perhaps no series Of coins shows
q greater variety Of design or moro skful
execution. The Church. always o patron
Of the arts, employed the foremost artists
of the time, and some Of the coins are
from the hands Of such men as Cellini and
Francia.
A gold scudo Of Julius IT,. the design Of
which Is credited to Francia. shows q finely
engraved portrait Of the Pope. with the
inscription Julius PontifeI Maximus.'
A coin Of Alexander VII, attributed TO
Paolo. shows on the reverse the crossed
keys and CROWN. perhaps n Of the first
Of the Papal coins to bear this device.
The coins Of the Popes were struck in
many places. including Rome. Bologna.
Avignon, Perugia. Terni. San Severino and
Gaeta. One Of the interesting pieces Of
the Roman mint was o silver ducat Of Glenn
ent VII. This piece. irregular in shape.
was struck In 1927, when Rome was In O
state Of siege. On the obverss are shown
the arms and title Of Pope Clement. with
the word .Ducatoa enclosed by q wreath
credited a jubilee five sequin piece In gold
struck in 1926. 1t is not unlikely that the
latter piece was engraved by, Cellini,
The most remarkable papal ooin issued
at Bologna IA the sequin. Of 1873. which
length portrait Of St: Peter. It was the
earliest OF the Apostolic coins to DO minted
at that city and q specimen brought. $40
at a recent sale. The first papai silver
soud) was struck at Bologna during the
reign Of Pope Gregory Kill.
are those OF the interregnal periods, known
as the aSede .Vacante' series, or coins
struck during the time the papal throne
wal u~noccupied. There are many varie-
ties of these pieces, some OF them being ex-
tremely scarce.
A very interesting aSede yaoante' scudo
shows that before the accession Of Plus TX.
in 1s48 an interregnal issue Of silver OF con-
adorable volume was contemplated. This
piece was dated 1915 and bore the legend
Cardinal. Risrio Sforna. who had the sole
authority to issue coins during the period.
The same Cardinal issued a gold piece dur
ing the interval between the death Of Greg
ory XVI. and the election Of Plus TX. This
piece was called a doppia and had an In
trinsic value Of $3.50. A full length figure
OF St. Peter was shown on the diverse
and the reverse bore the Cardinal's coat
Of arms, with crossed keys and q Cardinals
hat, with the words "Sede Vacante.'
A silver scudo Of 1s48 OF this Carolina
showed the Grand Cross Of the Legion OF
Honor suspended from the shield. II