1 Doppia - Innocent XII

Innocent XII — born Antonio Pignatelli — issued this doppia three years after publishing Romanum decet Pontificem in 1692, the bull that abolished the practice of papal nepotism which had enriched families like the Barberini and Pamphilj for generations. It was among the most consequential administrative reforms of the late seventeenth-century papacy, and the coinage of his reign is consequently free of the dynastic heraldry that clutters so many of his predecessors' issues.

The doppia denomination itself was a double ducat unit long favored for presentation gifts and diplomatic payments rather than everyday commerce. At .986 fine, this piece is nearly pure gold.