Wow - you delivered. That is a great piece and tough in that grade. I didn't realize the large size (mm) of those pieces.
Yes, they were a good chunk of change back then. The Papal States did not produce that many "big coins". Of course, Bishoprics/Archbishoprics produced some amazing larger coins...20/24/30/40/44 Dukats. It would have been great to have been a coin collector back then. Today, most of the coins struck around the Worlds mints are either drab, or gaudy like the "coloured" coins. John
I find the baroque style at the turn of the century (late 1600s/early 1700s) to be very attractive. The engravers of this period of time are often called the "Hamerani Dynasty", as several generations of the same family served as the lead engravers for the Papal mint. The dynasty was founded in the early 1600s and lasted through 1810. This is a 1707 Papal States Piastra (Scudo of 80 Bolognini) for Clemente XI.
Sadly, we do not have talented engravers around anymore, hence the mediocre coin designs. Here is a Salzburg 2 Dukaten from 15
