These sovereign states were under the direct secular rule of the Pope.
During this 1200 year period many different coins were used.
The coins are usually genuine, but the spoons were made in the 1890 -1910 time period
I had to do a lot of research to unravel the mystery of this spoon.
But the the result was worth the effort.
note: the coin was made in 1675 - -the spoon was probably made ca. 1900
You can see damage to the coin in the lower left
In the year 1675, the fourteenth (14th) Jubilee year was called by Pope Clement X.
"The Holy Door or 'Porta Sancta' is only open during a Holy Year (Jubilee), which occur[ed] every 25 years (the last one in 2015 - a special Jubilee declared by Pope Francis).
On the first day of a holy year, the Pope strikes the brick wall with a silver hammer and opens it to the pilgrims.
The message imparted by the Holy Door is that God's mercy reaches out to mankind's frailty."
This is a picture of this coin in excellent condition (unfortunately, my coin has some deterioration because it has been bent into a bowl shape and the stress also caused some damage on the obverse which meant the letters 'cl' have been obliterated.
PIASTRA
VII TYPE
35 GRAMS SILVER 43mm
date year type
1675 -- -- R2
LEGEND
CLEMENS X PONT MAX
DABIT FRVCTVM SVVM IN TEMPORE
PAPAL COAT OF ARMS / HOLY DOOR CLOSED
The finial is a well modeled sheep head and the stem has serrated wiring design.
This coin is from the Vatican and is dated 1758 in Roman numerals. I was able to find a picture of this rare coin on the web.
SEDE • VACAN | TE • MDCCLVIII
Shield with the Coat of Arms of Girolamo Cardinal Colonna, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, upon the Cross of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, crossed keys above, surmounted by Cardinal's hat with six tassels on each side; the Ombrellone over all.
VBI UVLT [sic] SPIRAT
SCV | DO
The Holy Spirit, surrounded by rays and eleven tongues of fire (Pentecost).
information from this website
http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/SV1758.html
A finely made spoon featuring a finial with three balls and s stem with nice wire wrapping.
The bowl is a Vatican Scudo dated 1802.
note: this is the same year as my coin spoon, but is a slightly different variation (due to change in dies)
1/2 Scudo (13.19 g). Dated 1802 (Year 3).
The Virgin Mary seated on cloud holding keys to heaven and church model AVXILIVM － DE － SANCTO － below G • HAMERANI (Giovanni Hamerani, the engraver) and the coat of arms of the cardinal president of Rome mint
Crowned coat-of-arms surmounted by crossed keys. PIVS VII PONT MAX
Interesting Papal State Pius lX coin bowl spoon. I like the way the spoon maker used a serrated wire wrapping design on the stem
This Pius IX 20 baiocchi spoon is dated 1858
Another version of this spoon except this one is dated 1859. A different style of wire wrapping was used on the handle
Nice hand made spoon featuring an apostle finial (I think it is St. James the Lesser) on a twisty stem with a winged female bust above the coin
This is technically a silver medallion (not a coin). The front shows the Papal arms of Pope Innocent xii
The back shows a figure which is called "a female personification of the Catholic Church". The medallion is dated 1698. She is standing and looking towards the rays of light.
In her left hand she holds a globe with a cross on top signifying the Catholic domination of the world.
This concept comes from the book of Wisdom (various parts of old testament scriptures)
"She is the breath of the power of God,
pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
hence nothing impure can find a way into her,
She is a reflection of the Eternal Light,
untarnished mirror of God's active power,
image of his goodness"
Weight: 30.525 grams : Measurements: 39 mm
Pope Clements Xii coin spoon
Nice wire wrapped spoon featuring a Pope Clements xii coin dated 1736 .
The finial when viewed sideways looks like a bear
This coin is silver and was only issued in 1736 in this configuration.
The symbol on the reverse is 'fortune'
Pope Innocent Xi
This twisted handled demi spoon features a 1686 Grosso type 2 silver coin bowl. A number of variations of this 22mm, 3.6 gram coin are found
The motto on the back is 'nocet minvs' which roughly translates as 'without harm'.
The finial of the spoon features a papal hat
This spoon was given to me by Rick Fraser (thank you very much)
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