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 Piastra - Clement XI IN HONOREM S THEODORI MAR
| Issuer | Papal States |
|---|---|
| Year | 1703 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Scudo (1534-1835) |
| 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 | Central field displays the elaborate crowned papal arms of Clement XI, consisting of a shield surmounted by the papal tiara and crossed keys, the whole set within a richly decorated cartouche of foliate and acanthus scrollwork. A prominent scallop shell appears at the top of the shield, serving as the chief heraldic charge of the Albani family. The shield is further framed by symmetrical laurel and olive branches tied at the base with a ribbon bow, with a small mint mark visible at the bottom. The circular Latin legend runs along the beaded border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Clement XI is better remembered for the catastrophic Bull Unigenitus (1713) and his hapless role in the War of the Spanish Succession than for his coinage, but the 1703 piastra predates both disasters. That year the Papal States were under acute pressure from the competing Bourbon and Habsburg factions each demanding Rome's political allegiance — Clement's attempt at neutrality ultimately satisfied no one and cost the papacy considerable temporal influence.
San Teodoro's veneration in Venice makes the dedication notable: invoking a Venetian patron saint on a Roman piastre in 1703 carried quiet diplomatic weight at a moment when the Republic of Venice remained a significant Catholic power Clement could not afford to alienate.