I was delighted to hear that I'd snagged a couple of new baroque coins in the
CNG auction that ended earlier this week. Baroque can be defined as various ways, but I consider it to be second half of the 17th century, ending with the death of Innocent
XII in 1700. In many ways this is the
apex of traditional papal coinage, IMHO of course, with a wonderfully diverse and skillfully executed range of designs and
themes.
For me, some of the most interesting coins were issued under Innocent XI, who reformed the coinage in July, 1684. He standardized the designs of many of the coins and none is a better example than the testones issued from 1684 to
his death in 1689. All
had the same basic design: papal coat of arms on the
obverse, and the
legend Melius Est Dare Quam Accipere ('tis better to give than to receive) on the
reverse. Within these parameters the die cutters
had amazing latitude in executing their designs, and Muntoni's
La Monete Dei Papo e Degli Stati Pontifici lists no less than 90 unique
types that were issued during these 5 years. I have 25 or so thus far including the two from
CNG. What makes these particularly interesting to me is that they are dated on the
obverse, above the coat of arms in tiny little numbers. Only 5 of the 90 listings
had obverse dates, and frankly I was unaware of this interesting dating until I saw these so I was willing to "reach" a
bit for these. The date sort of muddles up the
obverse design which I'd guess is why it was used on only a few early
types.
Its always fun to learn something new about a series you thought you knew!
Scans are from CNG's listings.