NUMISMATICS. – Numismatics is the science that studies money in all its constituent elements and in the evolution these have undergone over the centuries.
Metal coinage constitutes that medium of exchange which, having appeared and been adopted in the 7th century B.C. in the eastern Hellenic world, soon spread throughout the entire Hellenic Mediterranean and then to the Roman world, reaching down to our own day, maintaining intact its general characteristics and repeating down to the present day the various experiments and adaptations which the development of economic civilization has imposed upon it in every age.
As for the types that adorn its two faces, these always reflect above all the religious concept of the various peoples, both ancient and modern, whether through symbols drawn from the natural world, the animal kingdom, and human artifacts, or through the figure of the deity itself, conceived and depicted in human form. Roman coinage reached the Constantinian age steeped in the spirit and forms of pagan religion, repeating symbols and representations of all the deities of the Greco-Roman pantheon; but from the moment when the religion of Christ emerged into the light, coinage too reflects the triumph of Christian thought.
Christian numismatics for the Italian peninsula extends throughout the period from the Constantinian age to the present day, and comprises three grand groups of coinages: the coinage from Constantine to Romulus Augustulus; the Byzantine coinage, for the entire Byzantine world and for those countries which for a longer or shorter period imitated its coinage; and the Italian coinage of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
I. THE LATE ROMAN EMPIRE
This comprises the Constantinian age and that of the Valentinian emperors down to the fall of the Empire. Coinage presents the first Christian signs and shows the subsequent and complete disappearance of those numerous types which for three centuries had adorned all Roman coinage, reflecting pagan religion and cult.The Tetrarchs present only 5 deities; Constantine the Great, 4; Constantine II, 3 (Jupiter, Mars, Sol); Constantine I, one (Mars), and with him ends the typology concerning the pagan deities of imperial Rome. The same may be said of personifications (Concordia, Iustitia, Fides, Pietas, Felicitas, Spes, Virtus, Genius, etc.), which in their majority assumed the rank of true deities: they constituted a grand and varied pantheon of at least 30 different representations, as many as are counted in the age of the Antonines. Of these, the Tetrarchs still present 22; Constantine I, 15; Crispus, 6; Constantine and Constantius only Securitas. In this successive and rapid disappearance of pagan types, coinage in fact expresses the evolution of Constantine’s religious policy and the establishment of the new faith. Coinage reveals this transition in all its stages. The Constantinian age in the broad sense, and then the age of the Valentinian emperors, mark the two periods in which the moments of this evolution are most clearly observed down to its final phase.
Christianity makes its first appearance on coinage with signs of primitive Christian symbolism: the cross and the chismon; secondly, there appears that distinctive attitude of the imperial portrait, the head turned upwards, which would remain in art as an expression of exaltation and divine inspiration; next comes the appearance of the “manus Dei,” which denotes the tangible presence of the deity protecting the Augusti; finally, there is the advent of the cruciger angel, a direct derivation of the Roman Victory.
The cross and the chismon begin to appear, usually on the reverse, as “symbols,” that is, as secondary elements, extraneous to the monetary type, which continues to be pagan, and still on a minimal number of issues and pieces. Almost simultaneously they are found as “accessories” of the type; later they rise to constitute the “type” proper, first on a few issues, then on all coinage with the absolute exclusion of every other element. This evolution lasts more than a century and reaches full development shortly before the fall of the Western Empire, through the two main phases mentioned above. The scarcity and sporadic nature of such signs in the first period is not to be attributed to the personal responsibility and initiative of the moneyers, but to the circumstance that the imperial chancellery had to take account of the very many pagans in the Empire.
a) The cross (in its three variants 1, 2, 3) appears as a symbol on the field of the Constantinian bronze coins alone INVICTO and MARTI CONSERVATORI (314–18); then on the air where two standing Victories hold the shield inscribed VOTA POPULI (ROMANI) (c. 320); later on the bronze coins GLORIA EXERCITUS, between two soldiers guarding the standards (333–35). It then returns, as a symbol, on the gold and bronze issues of the Valentinian emperors, Theodosius, Honorius, John, etc. As an accessory of the monetary type, the cross appears on the emperor’s scepter or on the globe held by Roma or by Victory or by the emperor (cruciger globe), always in the period of the Valentinian emperors. Finally, the long Germanic cross appears in the right hand of the standing Victory, and determines its transformation into the Christian angel, precisely with the Augustae of Valentinian III (Galla Placidia and Grata Honoria); the cross replaces every other attribute: the crown, the palm, and the trophy. It must however be remembered that the emperor Zeno on his great classical-style bronze (471–476–491) revives the Roman Victory striding forward with crown and palm [IMP(ERATOR) ZENO FELIX PER(PETVVS) AV(OVSTUS) – INVICTA ROMA S(ENATVS) C(ONSVLTO)], a type which Theodoric would adopt on his gold medallion (497–500), just as later Theodahatus (534–36) on his magnificent large bronze D(OMINVS) N(OSTER) THEODAHATVS EX – VICTORIA PRINCIPVM S(ENATVS) C(ONSVLTO)].
Only from the age of the Valentinian emperors does the cross constitute the proper type of the solidi, the triennial gold coins, the silver coins, and the bronze coins down to the fall of the Empire; on the bronze of Galla Placidia is read around the cross SALVS REPVBLICAE; on the solidus of Olybrius SALVS MVNDI; and then in the Eastern Empire, on the silver of Tiberius II Constantine, LVX MVNDI.
b) The chismon is found as a symbol already in the Constantinian age, on the field of the bronze coins GLORIA EXERCITVS – VIRTVS EXERCITVS, beside the two soldiers guarding the labarum, or beside the standard between two seated prisoners (320–24); then on other bronze coins VICTORIA LAETAE PRINC. PER with the two Victories (320–24); again on the bronze coins GLORIA EXERCITVS beside the two soldiers guarding the labarum (323–35); on the gold solidi of Constantius II GLORIA REPVBLICAE between the two figures of Roma and Constantinople; finally between the four military standards of the large silver of Constans, etc. For these issues too the circumstance repeats itself that only a minimal part of them presents this symbol.
For the age of the Valentinian emperors down to the fall of the Empire, the chismon, as a symbol, appears on the gold solidi between Roma and Constantinople supporting the shield of vows, beside the standing emperor, or the standing or writing Victory, or the army of gold issues, etc.; and again on the solidus of Anthemius between the two emperors Anthemius and Leo. As an accessory of the monetary type it adorns the helmet of Constantine on the bronze coins of the mints of Trier, in the period 313–17; it then adorns the shield of Constantius II and the cuirass of Constans; it surmounts the globe held by Roma on the gold medallion of Nepotian, the crown of vows supported by the two Victories on the bronze coins of Magnentius, Decentius, etc. Then, in the age of the Valentinian emperors, the chismon appears on the emperor’s shield on the obverse of the solidi of Honorius and Valentinian and of Majorian; on the shield of Victory on the medallion of Attalus, on that of the solidi of Valens, etc.; finally it is inscribed by Victory on the solidi of Galla Placidia, Flaccilla, etc.
The true and proper chrisonn first appears on the large bronzes of Magnentius and Decentius alongside the A-Ω; these are the pieces also found in the loculi of the catacombs as devotional medals, the only ones intentionally placed, since the others were attached externally merely as a mark of recognition, and only their obverse is visible. In the age of the Valentinians, the chrisonn became the type for the quinarii and the gold trientes of almost all subsequent emperors, as well as for the silver coins of Severus II, Anthemius, Glycerius, etc.
However, the chrisonn found its most important adaptation on the standard of the imperial cavalry, becoming the Christian labarum (v.). In the form described by Eusebius (Vita Constantini, I, 31), the labarum appears, as far as is known, only once on Roman coinage, namely on the small bronze of Constantine SPES PUBLICA. In its second form (a cloth surmounting the Roman standard, bearing the Christian monogram), it first appears from 325 on common small bronzes GLORIA EXERCITUS, which depict two soldiers guarding the standard surmounted by the Christian labarum, of Constantine and his sons; then, after 337, in the hands of Constant and Constantius, now standing on a ship, now crowned by Victory, now trampling the defeated enemy; these are the issues FEL. TEMP. REPARATIO — GLORIA ROMANORUM — TRIUMPHATOR GENTIUM BARBARORUM — VIRTUS CONSTANTI — VIRTUS CONSTANTINI AUG(VST) — GAUDIUM POPULI ROMANI. Such types recur until Arcadius and Honorius. Under Valentinian III, the use of the labarum as an accessory of the emperor’s figure tends to disappear, as the emperor now holds the long cross as a scepter, or a short one resting on his shoulder, and triumphs in that type which now dominates: the emperor standing frontally, leaning on the cross-scepter, trampling a dragon with a human head—a type which, under Valentinian, seems to exalt his victory over Attila at Châlons and his expulsion from Gaul, and later, under Marcian, the fact that he, with the help of St. Leo, also freed Italy. Yet even a labarum is found on the bronzes and gold coins of some Byzantine emperors, from Theophilus (839–42) to Constantine VIII (1025–28) at least.
c) The manus Dei as an accessory with a clearly Christian meaning first appears on small bronze consecration pieces of Constantine, where the new divus is depicted flying to heaven in a quadriga; then it is seen crowning the head of Constantius II on the gold medallion GAUDIUM ROMANORUM; then that of Honorius standing and crushing a crouching lion, on the reverse of VICTORIA AUGG.; finally, the diademed heads of Valentinian III, Galla Placidia, Grata Honoria, Arcadius, Eudocia, etc. Often the manus Dei appears above the heads of Byzantine emperors from Constantine V and Leo IV to John I Zimisces, Basil II, Michael IV, Alexius I, John II, and at least until Isaac II (1185–95).
From Constantine onward, imperial iconography sporadically presents another peculiarity: eyes turned toward heaven. This would seem to be determined by religious sentiment; however, such an attitude recurs on certain series of coins struck on the occasion of imperial anniversaries beginning 25 July 326 and is never accompanied by religious symbols. These rare series were struck in the name of Constantine and his sons, and later of some successors up to Julian Caesar, that is, from the year following the Council of Nicaea until the moment when Julian, having been proclaimed Augustus, declared himself an opponent of Christianity.
d) The use of the nimbus, extremely rare during the first three centuries of the Empire and dating back to the Antonines, seems to have originated in the East; it certainly acquired particular importance after Constantine’s conquest of the East. It always and everywhere expressed the divinity of the emperor, and only later assumed a Christian meaning. Already nimbed are Diocletian and Maximian on the lead medallion of Paris celebrating the crossing of the Rhine in 287, then Constantine Augustus and Constantius Caesar on the gold medallion AETERNA GLORIA SENAT(US) P(OPULUS)Q(UE) R(OMANUS); and Constantine again on the gold medallion of Siscia SOLI INVICTO COMITI; and again Constantius II Augustus on the large gold medallion D(OMINUS) N(OSTER) CONSTANTIUS VICTOR SEMPER AUG(USTUS); Fausta on her magnificent gold piece PIETAS AUGUSTAE, and Gratian on the solidus PRINCIPIUM IUVENTUTIS; then Valentinian and Valens on gold solidi and medallions, and all the emperors seated side by side in ceremonial dress: Valentinian and Valens, Honorius and Arcadius, Theodosius and Valentinian on the coins VOTA PUBLICA; VICTORIA AUGG.; GLORIA ROMANORUM; SALUS REPUB(UBLICAE); finally, Anthemius and Leo standing and jointly holding a long cross on the solidus SALUS REP(UBLICAE).
e) The evolution from the type of the Victoria to that of the Angelus is evident in the coins. While the Roman Victory still continues to appear with its usual attributes and in the attitudes most proper to this late period (holding the shield of the vows, inscribing the same shield, bearing the trophy, etc.), its figure appears in half-length, frontal, and with wings spread, in a hieratic yet academic composition; suspended in the upper field of the coin where the two emperors sit, upon whose heads it seems to impose hands or a crown. It is already seen on a gold aureus of Diocletian CONCORDIAE AUGG. NN., but as an incidental appearance; later, however, it becomes fixed on the gold coins of Gratian, then of the Valentinian emperors, Theodosius, Maximus, Flavius Victor, etc. (cf. the reverses VICTORES AUGUSTI; VICTORIA AUGG.; BONO REPUBLICAE NATI). A second phase is represented by the reverse type of the Augustae from Valentinian III onward: rigidly posed and frontal, with wings lowered parallel, it appears leaning on the long cross that rests on the ground. From the Western world this type, like all others of the period, passes into the Byzantine world and coinage; and, as a fixed type, it endures until Heraclius (mid-7th century), when it is supplanted by the cross potent, which appeared at the end of the 6th century (cf. the coins of Anastasius, Justin I, Justinian, Justin II).
II. Byzantium
With the last types discussed, which recur in both the West and the East, one enters the domain of the true Byzantine world.At this historical juncture, one encounters the singular but easily explicable phenomenon of the vast imitation of Byzantine-style coins and tremisses in Italy by the Ostrogoths and later the Lombards; in France by the Burgundians in the region of the Sequani, already by the end of the 4th century, and by the Franks of Clovis I; in the Iberian peninsula by the Visigoths, when they invaded Narbonensis (412) and, with the favor of Honorius, occupied Roman Spain and Aquitaine from the Ocean to Toulouse, until the Arab conquest (beginning of the 8th century), etc.
In the Byzantine world, one must especially note the even greater fixity of the few monetary types still in use, the greater schematism of these types, and the complete dominance of frontality in the field of coins, as in all figurative art. The human figure, whether deity or emperor, assumes the silhouette of a mannequin clad in stiff, gem-studded garments, overloaded with symbols and emblems, where one can no longer distinguish one Augustus from another, nor this emperor from the Augusta beside him, except for some vague ornamental detail of dress or crown.
The monogram also appears on the reverse of coins that have lost all connection with the realities of political, social, and civil life, being inspired solely by the religion of the State. The cross predominates everywhere and always, in numerous variants: with equal or unequal arms, double-armed or patriarchal, on multiple steps or enhanced, anchored, with crosslets at the four ends, with a central medallion for a relic, with a quadrilobed medallion containing the bust of the emperor, or with two imperial busts hanging from the horizontal arms, etc.
Later, the figures of Christ and the Virgin Mother appear in certain notable variants, some of which are often imitated in contemporary works of art; then a few named saints, while on silver and then on bronze the epigraphic type triumphs with sacred invocations and evocations.
The effigy of Christ was introduced by Justinian II: a frontal bust with a cross behind the head, the book of the Gospels closed in the left hand, and the right hand raised in blessing, in two variants: with a long, flowing beard and hair; with harsh facial features, stylized hair with short, stiff curls, and a short, stiff beard. After the Iconoclastic Controversy, the bust of Christ reappears with Theodora, and Basil inaugurates the seated Christ on a frontal throne with a cruciform nimbus and later gemmed, which, with minor variations in detail, lasts until the end of the Empire. There are also episodic types: Christ crowning Romanos I (early 10th century), and standing between Romanos IV and his wife Eudocia, crowning both with uplifted arms (1071-1076); and crowning Manuel I, Andronikos I and II, etc.
Then there is the so-called "Calchi" Christ, standing frontally on a stool, with Theodora (1055-56), Alexios I Komnenos (1081-1118), and Alexios IV (1203-1204). Finally, he appears standing in an oval, imitating the Venetian zecchino, with Manuel II and John VIII (1391-1425; 1423-48).
Leo IV introduces the bust of the Virgin orans (886-912), veiled and cloaked with outstretched arms, a type that alternates for centuries with that of Christ. With Nikephoros II, the Virgin appears beside the emperor at half-length, robed and nimbed, and with him supports the patriarchal cross; she is later found standing beside John I, Michael III, Romanos III, etc., and on the solidus of Theodora, who appears standing in a tight tunic with a crossed apron, holding a long labarum in her left hand; the Virgin places her right hand to the labarum.
With Romanos IV (1067-71), the type inaugurated by John I Tzimiskes at the end of the 10th century reappears: the Virgin frontally, half-length, holding the medallion of the Divine Child in both hands. This type lasts long, alternating with that of the seated Virgin, with the same medallion before her breast, and with that of the standing orans Virgin with the same medallion on her breast. Then comes the episodic type of the Virgin crowning the emperor. But the most graceful figure, the least stylized and most natural, is the Virgin on the large silver coin of Romanos IV, standing with veil, tunic, and very long mantle and broad nimbus, holding on her left the Divine Child, also nimbed and blessing. This may perhaps be recognized as the Virgin Hodegetria, known from other monuments of the period.
Later, saints appear. First is St. George in armor, short tunic, and cloak. He is young and nimbed, his left hand on the hilt of his sword, his right supporting the patriarchal cross together with John II Komnenos (1118-43). Then come St. Theodore and St. Demetrios, introduced by Manuel I Komnenos (1143-80). They are nimbed and standing, and together with the emperor support the patriarchal cross or the labarum or the ostensory: St. Theodore is bearded, in armor, short tunic, and cloak, his left hand on the long sheathed sword; St. Demetrios is nimbed, in armor, with his left hand on his chest. The archangel Gabriel is adopted by Isaac II Angelos (1185-95); he appears young, nimbed, and winged, in armor and tunic, his left hand on his chest, and together with the emperor supports a sword raised from the ground. In other issues, St. Michael crowns the emperor, or they jointly support the long cross. With Alexios III Angelos (1195-1203), Sts. Constantine and Demetrios appear. Finally, Michael VIII Palaiologos (1261-82) appears on his coin kneeling before the Savior who blesses him, and St. Michael appears behind him, winged and nimbed. On the reverse of this solidus is a conventional bird's-eye view of the circuit of the towered walls of Constantinople, at whose center appears the bust of the Virgin orans, the city's protector.
III. CHRISTIAN ITALY
The period around the year 1000, with the first flowering of the Italian communes, marks the opening of urban communal mints. The series begin with coins of uncertain and irregular contours, bearing inscriptions in Gothicized letters, initially limited to epigraphic devices, then featuring the cross, the fleur-de-lis, the imperial eagle. As communal liberties developed, this type expanded and became fixed in the figure of the bishop and the effigy of the patron saint; the latter soon came to prevail everywhere, embodying the free commune.Many are these saints who appear at uncertain dates in individual communes and in successive periods of the Italian Middle Ages: Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome, St. John in Florence, St. Mark in Venice, St. Zeno in Verona, St. Ciriaco in Ancona, St. Ansovinus in Camerino, St. Emidius in Ascoli, St. Novolus in Faenza, St. Savinus in Fermo, St. Imerius in Cremona, St. Abundius in Como, St. Syrus in Pavia, St. Prosdocimus in Padua, St. Gaudentius in Rimini, St. Apollonius in Brescia, St. Herculanus in Perugia, St. Justus in Trieste, St. Laurence in Viterbo, St. Secundus in Asti, St. Posidonius in Mirandola, St. Petronius in Bologna, St. Maurelius in Ferrara, etc. The types consist, according to the periods and denominations, now of a bust, now of a standing frontal figure, now again of a seated figure on a throne or even under an arch. In these primitive dies the bust is schematically drawn and inserted as a triangle in the small field of the coin; it appears frontal, the head either nimbed or covered by the papal or episcopal mitre, dressed in priestly vestments closed on the chest by a large gem-studded clasp.
The standing saint likewise wears a mitre, nimbus, and priestly mantle; usually he is in a blessing attitude, his left hand resting on a crozier or a tall cross. This type also finds parallels in the products of contemporary major and minor arts. Sometimes the saints are contained within a niche, as St. Syrus in Pavia. It is not uncommon for the saint to hold a city or church in his hand; thus we see St. Terentius in Pesaro, St. Petronius in Bologna, St. Prosdocimus in Padua, etc. Less common is the seated frontal saint of Bologna, Parma, Cremona, Milan, Como, Monza, etc.; to this correspond the blessing pope of the large Avignonese silver coins, the crowned Rome with senatorial mantle and orb of the anonymous papal grossi (13th-14th centuries), the Angevin kings of the gigliati silver coins of the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily; and finally the seated and blessing Christ of the Venetian matapani, etc.
Distinctive are the two figurations of the Venetian zecchino coined from 1244: the blessing Redeemer in a star-nimbed, and St. Mark delivering the banner to the kneeling doge; types of style and concept still strongly Byzantine, which find parallels in some museum pieces from the oldest cathedrals.
For southern Italy, there is no analogous pattern in monetary civilization. Here, few mints were active under the influence of Byzantine domination and its related coinage; hence the Byzantine-influenced series of Benevento, Salerno, Mileto, Naples, etc., where the Cross predominates, accompanied on the large copper folles by a very rough, summary bust composed of purely linear elements. This bust is identified at Salerno as that of Christ, St. Peter, the Mother of God, and St. Matthew; at Gaeta as St. Erasmus; at Naples as St. Januarius, and so on.
However, as various Norman, Swabian, Angevin, Durazzan, and Aragonese dynasties gained ascendancy here, dynastic interest took precedence over religious interest more absolutely than elsewhere in the peninsula. Nonetheless, on the gold tarins of Henry VI, Frederick II, and Manfredi, the Cross appears with the Byzantine legend (HÉXOY) C(XPISTO) C NIKA, and Roger, Duke of Apulia, places the bust of the Savior on the silver ducat of Brindisi. At Benevento, Sicone replaces the old Roman Victory type with the archangel Michael, duly named; and Roger, Count of Mileto, places on his trifollaro the beautiful and evocative depiction of the Virgin seated with the Divine Child in her arms.
A little later, in the second half of the 13th century, Charles I of Anjou inaugurates on his gold soldo the complex depiction of the Annunciation (repeated by Charles II), where inspiration, naivety, and freshness combine in the precious artistry of the die. The finely wrought, small but intricate depiction seems inspired by some painted work (AVE GRACIA PLENA DOMINUS TECUM). Then Alfonso I of Aragon, around the depiction of the sovereign at the gallop, writes D(OMI)N(U)S M(EUS) ADIUTOR ET EGO DESP(ERAVI) IN
NUMISMATICS — PAPAL ROME NUMISMATICS
While more proudly, Ferdinand I of Aragon proclaims CORONATUS QUIA LEGITIME CERTAVIT around the scene of the coronation, which shows the Redeemer enthroned, frontal, with scepter and cross-bearing orb, crowned by a standing cardinal to his right, assisted by a bishop standing to his left. Finally, beside the figure of the archangel Michael, standing on the dragon beneath his feet—a type of his carlino—is the legend IUSTA TUENDA. Alfonso II of Aragon also writes CORONAVIT ET UNXIT ME MANUS T(UA) D(OMINE) on his crowned silver coin, which declares and sanctions the divine right of his kingdom.
In the 16th century, almost everywhere, lordships, duchies, and principalities emerged where dynastic interest—and thus the right to effigies—predominated. Yet even as the religious interest expressed by the mint type diminished, it was not entirely eliminated or exhausted; rather, it became more complex and often reflected prototypes of contemporary great art, both pictorial and sculptural. These types were often episodic, reproduced and adapted to the die with true artistic sense; religious legends were inserted and multiplied to reflect that popular religious sentiment of the humblest masses, which never faded in Italy.
In the Savoyard series, Amadeus VIII displays St. Maurice on horseback with nimbus, banner, and sword; on the ducats of 1430, the saint hands the banner to the kneeling duke, repeating the gesture of St. Mark in Venice. Louis writes on the ducat: DEUS IN ADIUTORIUM MEUM INTENDE; and Charles repeats the ejaculatory prayer CHRISTUS VINCIT, CHRISTUS REGNAT, CHRISTUS IMPERAT. Charles Emmanuel I, beside the figure of St. Charles, writes DISCERNE CAUSAM MEAM, alluding to the war for the succession of Montferrat; and beside Blessed Amadeus is read: BENEDIC HAEREDITATI TUAE; FODERE ET RELIGIONE TENEMUR, with which motto it is intended to explain the FERT, still enigmatic in any case. In Milan, under the Sforzas, St. Ambrose appears mitered and nimbed, on horseback charging heretics, or standing as he strikes a warrior with a scourge; he finally appears on clouds with enemies beneath his feet.
In Pisa, from the first Republic (12th century), the Virgin with the Divine Child appears seated and takes stable residence there for centuries, while Siena is named CIVITAS VIRGINIS. In Aquileia, already on the coins of Patriarch Raymond (second half of the 13th century), the Virgin appears, and soon after the invocation VIRGO MARIA ADVOCATA MUNDI. Indeed, the Virgin Mother with the Divine Child appears frequently on the coins of the peninsula in many places: in Modena, with Francesco d'Este, the Mother of God adoring the Divine Child: AVERTITI IRAM INDIGNATIONIS; in Parma, crowned by angels; in Pesaro, with Giovanni Sforza, seated on a throne; in Florence, with Francesco I, the Annunciation: ECCE ANNU[N]TIATA DOMINI; in Venice, the Virgin blessing the kneeling doge, and so on.
Scenes from the life of Christ also appear sporadically on coins: in Ferrara, with Ercole I on the throne, Christ rising and the Adoration of the Magi; with Alfonso III d'Este, the Calvary; with Ercole II, Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross. In Reggio, Jesus holds the Cross and His blood fills the chalice (CUIUS CRUORE SANATI); in Camerino under Guidobaldo, the Resurrection of Christ (RESURREXI ET ADHUC TECUM SUM), and again Christ and St. Thomas (CREDERE TUTIUS); in Florence, on the shield of Ferdinand II, the Baptism of Jesus (FILIUS MEUS DILECTUS); in Mantua, on a shield of Francis II, Jesus in half-figure emerges from the tomb behind which the Cross rises (SI LABORATIS EGO REFICIAM VOS). In Mirandola, it is the Resurrection of Christ among the disciples, and so on.
Popular saints also appear in many places: St. Francis receiving the stigmata or kneeling at the foot of the Cross in Pesaro, Urbino, Mantua, Bardi, Mirandola, etc.; St. George on horseback slaying the dragon in Mantua, Mesocco, Ferrara, etc. In Mantua, Francis II presents the archangel Raphael with the young Tobias, and again St. Andrew receiving from St. Longinus the relic of the Precious Blood; in Pesaro, St. Jerome in the desert with the crouching lion; in Lucca, alongside the SANCTUS VULTUS DE LUCA, are St. Peter standing or St. Martin on horseback with the beggar, etc.
From the 19th century, and even earlier, modern Italian coinage no longer draws its inspiration from the religion of the fathers but instead adopts classical and pagan formulas and symbols that have lost their ancient meaning and value.
- See plates CXXIV–CXXV.
BIBL.:
For the Byzantine period: J. Sabatier, Description générale des monnaies byzantines, 2 vols., Paris 1862; W. Wroth, Study of byzantine numismatics, in Corolla numismatica, Oxford 1906, pp. 325-35; id., Catalogue of the byzantine coins in the Brit. Museum, 2 vols., London 1908; H. Goodacre, Notes on some rare byzantine coins, in Numismatic chronicle, 5th series, 11 (1931), pp. 151-99; id., The Story of Constantine VIII, ibid., 15 (1935), pp. 114-19; id., A numisma of Andronicus III, Anna, and John V, ibid., pp. 232-40; id., The flat bronze coinage of Nicaea, ibid., 18 (1938), pp. 159-64; S. L. Cesano, La zecca di Costantinopoli, s. V. Costantinopoli, in Enc. Ital., XI, pp. 627-30.
For Italian medieval coinage: A. Engel, Recherches sur la numismatique des Normands de la Sicile et d'Italie, Paris 1882; J. Friedländer, Die Münzen der Ostgothien, Berlin 1884; G. Bazzi-M. Santoni, Vademecum del raccoglitore italiano o Repertorio, Camerino 1886; M. Cagiati, Le monete del Reame delle due Sicilie da Carlo d'Angiò a Vittorio Emanuele II, Naples 1911-12; id., Supplemento, ibid. 1913-15; G. Sambon, Repertorio generale delle monete coniate in Italia dal sec. V al sec. XX, part 1 (476-1266 A.D.), Paris 1912; S. Ferraro, Le monete di Gaeta, Naples 1915; M. Cagiati, La zecca di Benevento, Milan 1916-17; U. Monneret de Villard, La moneta in Italia durante l'alto medioevo, excerpt from Rivista ital. di numism., 1919-20; id., La monetazione nell'Italia barbarica, ibid., 1921; S. L. Cesano, L'oro in Italia nella età di mezzo e nell'oro moderno, in Atti e memorie dell'Istituto ital. di numismatica, 5 (1925), p. 113 ff.; M. Cagiati, I tipi monetali della zecca di Salerno, Naples 1925.
Seconda Lorenza Cesano