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Teston - Pius IV Alexandre Farnèse Legate
| Issuer | Comtat Venaissin |
|---|---|
| Year | 1559-1565 |
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| Currency | Livre Tournois |
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| Obverse description | Papal arms displayed on a shield surmounted by two crossed keys in saltire beneath a pontifical tiara, with a smaller escutcheon bearing the Farnese family arms under a cardinal's hat placed to the left of the main shield; a small Lenzi armorial shield appears in the exergue. The entire composition is rendered in high relief characteristic of mid-sixteenth-century hammered coinage. The field is plain, and the heraldic devices are carefully detailed despite the limitations of the hand-striking technique. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Bare-headed, bearded bust of Pope Pius IV in right-facing profile, draped in richly ornamented pontifical vestments featuring an elaborately decorated cope with scrollwork and beaded borders rendered in fine detail. The portrait conveys a naturalistic Renaissance style consistent with mid-sixteenth-century Italian die-cutting traditions. The circular legend is separated from the bust by an inner beaded border, and the overall composition fills the flan with strong, authoritative relief. |
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| Additional information |
Alexandre Farnèse — grandson of Paul III and a cardinal from age fourteen — served as papal legate governing the Comtat Venaissin during the opening years of Pius IV's pontificate. The Comtat, an enclave within Provence entirely surrounded by French territory, struck its own coinage under legatine authority throughout this period, a privilege jealously maintained to underscore Rome's temporal jurisdiction over the territory despite persistent French pressure.
The Farnèse family connection to papal coinage runs deep; this issue belongs to a tradition the dynasty had been shaping for decades from within the Curia itself.