Quadruple Gold Ecu - Urban VIII Francis Barberini Legate, Cosimo Bardi Vice-Legate

Urban VIII's appointment of his nephew Francesco Barberini as legate to Avignon in 1623 was nakedly nepotistic even by papal standards — Francesco was twenty-six, a cardinal of two years' standing, and would never once reside in the Comtat during his tenure. Cosimo Bardi held the day-to-day authority as vice-legate, which is why both names appear on this issue: one man held the title, the other ran the territory.

The Comtat Venaissin had been a papal enclave within Provençal France since 1274, minting independently of both the French crown and Rome itself. The quadruple écu denomination in .986 fine gold placed this squarely at the luxury end of regional output — not a coin that saw a market stall.