1 Doppia - Alexander VII

Alexander VII — born Fabio Chigi — was elected pope in April 1655 after a conclave that lasted eighty days, one of the longest of the seventeenth century. The Bolognese mint operated under papal authority throughout his reign, though Bologna retained its own Senate and a degree of civic autonomy that made its relationship with Rome perpetually tense. Doppie from this mint and this pontificate are struck on noticeably tight flans compared to Roman issues of the same period.