Pius VI was in the final, catastrophic chapter of his pontificate by 1796 — Napoleon's army was already tearing through the Papal Legations, and the Treaty of Tolentino the following year would strip Rome of significant territories and treasure. The Ancona mint, operating in a city that would itself fall under French influence within months, continued striking small copper coinage even as the fiscal and political ground collapsed beneath the papacy.
Ancona-struck copper from this period circulated hard in a region experiencing genuine economic disruption. Survivors with any surface integrity are less common than KM references suggest.
Pius VI was in the final, catastrophic chapter of his pontificate by 1796 — Napoleon's army was already tearing through the Papal Legations, and the Treaty of Tolentino the following year would strip Rome of significant territories and treasure. The Ancona mint, operating in a city that would itself fall under French influence within months, continued striking small copper coinage even as the fiscal and political ground collapsed beneath the papacy.
Ancona-struck copper from this period circulated hard in a region experiencing genuine economic disruption. Survivors with any surface integrity are less common than KM references suggest.