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2 1/2 Baiocchi - Pius VI St. Peter facing left
| Issuer | Papal States |
|---|---|
| Year | 1796-1797 |
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| Reference(s) | KM#1240, Berman#2989, Munt#99-102 |
| Obverse description | Draped bust of Saint Peter facing left, nimbed with a halo, depicted as an elderly bearded figure holding the keys of heaven in his right hand. The portrait is rendered in a bold baroque style characteristic of late 18th-century Papal coinage. The circular Latin legend S·P APOSTOLORVM PRINCEPS (Saint Peter, Prince of the Apostles) runs along the upper periphery of the field. A finely toothed border frames the entire design. |
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| Reverse description | Four-line inscription in large Roman capital letters occupying the central field, reading BAIOCCHI / DVE E MEZZO / ROMANI / 1797, denoting the denomination and its Roman attribution. Three six-pointed stars are arranged in a row above the inscription, serving as decorative separators. The design is plain and typographic, with no additional figural elements. A toothed or reeded border encircles the entire reverse field. |
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| Additional information |
Pius VI was, by 1796, watching the Papal States collapse in real time. Napoleon's Italian campaign that year forced the humiliating Armistice of Bologna, stripping the papacy of Ferrara, Bologna, and the Romagna, and demanding 21 million livres in cash and art. These copper baiocchi were being struck into a treasury that was simultaneously being emptied by French requisitions, making even routine coinage an act of institutional stubbornness.
Pius VI would die a French prisoner in Valence in 1799 — the first pope to die in captivity since Clement V. Issues from this two-year window are among his final domestic coinages before the Roman Republic was proclaimed in 1798.