Pius VI faced a monetary system fragmented across dozens of papal mints, each producing coinage to slightly different standards — a persistent headache for commerce across the Papal States. The Bologna mint, operating under long-established local privileges, struck this scudo during a pontificate that would end in humiliation: Napoleon's forces captured Pius VI in 1798, and he died a prisoner in Valence the following year.
Bologna's scudi from this period occasionally show die alignment inconsistencies attributable to the mint's aging equipment, documented across the CNI X series variants.
Pius VI faced a monetary system fragmented across dozens of papal mints, each producing coinage to slightly different standards — a persistent headache for commerce across the Papal States. The Bologna mint, operating under long-established local privileges, struck this scudo during a pontificate that would end in humiliation: Napoleon's forces captured Pius VI in 1798, and he died a prisoner in Valence the following year.
Bologna's scudi from this period occasionally show die alignment inconsistencies attributable to the mint's aging equipment, documented across the CNI X series variants.