1 Baiocco - Benedict XIV

Benedict XIV, born Prospero Lambertini, was the most intellectually distinguished pope of the eighteenth century and an active reformer of papal finances. His administration negotiated concordats with several European powers and worked to rationalize the chronically disordered revenue streams of the Papal States — copper issues like this baiocco were part of that broader fiscal housekeeping. Ferrara, annexed to the Papal States in 1598 following the Este family's failure to produce a legitimate heir, maintained its own mint well into the eighteenth century, operating with considerable local autonomy.

KM#138 spans a seven-year window, suggesting steady but unremarkable production volume for regional circulation.