Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/2 Baiocco - Benedict XIV Value in cartouche
| Issuer | Papal States |
|---|---|
| Year | 1740-1751 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | The papal arms of Benedict XIV occupy the center of the field, depicted as a vertically striped escutcheon surmounted by the papal tiara and the crossed keys of Saint Peter, the emblems of pontifical authority. The shield is rendered in a baroque style with elaborate mantling and scroll-work flanking the sides. The circumferential legend reads BENEDIC. XIV P.M.A.II, identifying the pope and his regnal year. The entire design is contained within a finely toothed or grained border, characteristic of Roman mint copper coinage of the mid-eighteenth century. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | 1740 - I - 1741 - I - 1742 - II - 1751 - XI - |
| Additional information |
Benedict XIV — Prospero Lambertini — was elected in 1740 after one of the longest conclaves of the 18th century, lasting six months. His pontificate brought genuine administrative reform to the Papal treasury, and the introduction of the value in cartouche on copper fractions was part of a broader effort to reduce confusion in a monetary system plagued by regional variation and chronic small-change shortages across the Papal territories.
The cartouche format itself carried bureaucratic intent: value stated plainly, authority implied rather than asserted. Munt#194–209 spans a wide die range across the eleven-year issue, with documented variation in cartouche shape between earlier and later strikes.