| A nice, though worn coin, this illustrates Papal coinage from the period
immediately prior to the Roman Republic (1798-1799). St. Peter holds keys,
presumably to heaven and has a halo above his head. Beyond this simple imagery
only the legend would indicate who this is from among the panoply of Catholic
saints. The rest of the coin is plain, even crude in execution and may reflect
the unsettled times although many later Papal issues lack aesthetic qualities.
The planchet on this coin is quite thick, at least twice as thick as a modern
US quarter so that despite being the size of contemporary British ½
penny tokens it easily weighs twice as much. |
