I need your help regarding this ancient coin

Hello everyone

My field of speciality is Islamic coins so naturally when I have a coin such as the one you see below, I really become puzzled about what it is ? which era ?
I am not sure even if this coin is gold or not.

I appreciate your help so much.

 

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Would that image be St Peter? A Christian coin? Vatican??

 

Indded, that image is Saint Peter (the S. Petrus, Latin for St. Peter, gives it away), and I would go so far as to venture that the other side is an image of the gate to Heaven. St. Peter guards this gate, and allows only those deemed to be righteous in the eyes of the Lord to enter.

The coin looks like it could be gold to me, perhaps a less pure form than 24 Karat. It could be from the Vatican, and that would be my best guess at the moment. If it's indeed gold, it could fetch anywhere from the couple of hundreds for melt value to tens of thousands for numismatic value.

I have to say, that is one really cool coin though! Where did you get it? (Sorry, I am a fan of religious iconology....!)

~AJ

 

Thank you for your interesting answer.

I bought it from an old house auction.

I dont know what ROII which is printed on the obv stands for ! and I dont know the date of mint or when St.Peter was born ! maybe I ought to go to some christian sources !

I will keep you updated.

 

The architectural style of the gate depicted looks baroque to me; in architecture that would mean 17c and early 18c. In other words, the piece won't be older than that

Each of the three in front of the gate seems to have a pilgrim's staff; two carry theirs, one has his on the ground. The three characters below could also be ROM which would be German for the city of Rome. Maybe three pilgrims on the way to Rome? Could make sense because Peter (Simon Petrus) was not only one of Jesus Christ's twelve apostles but is also considered the first bishop of Rome ...

Christian

 

Baroque style !! this is amazing observation..I never thought about it !!
Do you think it is a coin ! and when the vatican had its first coins struck ??

Does the pope qualify to has the circule of holiness we see on most christian paintings around his head or is this practice only reserved for saints ? I was looking at the list of popes throughout the ages and back in the 12-13th century, there was a pope named PETRUS !! could it be from his age ?

 

Here is another bit of information I was able to dig up for you: this coin IS a papal coin (coin of the Pope) struck to commemorate the feast of St. Peter (hence S. PETRUS on the obverse) and given annually to employees of the Vatican and curators of the Roman Curia (library). They did indeed make several of these coins out of gold, and it is most likely from the early 16th century, because according to what I read, the minters struck Biblical verses on the coins during the mid- to late-16th centuries up to the 18th century, and yours has no verses, making it earlier. The coin itself is either a "florin" or a "papal florin," although I believe that it is simply a florin as it does not have the name of the Pope-in-office at the time on it. Obviously, the fact that no Pope's name is on the coin makes it understandably difficult to identify the exact year it was coined. As for the ROII on the reverse, I have been unsuccessful at figuring out what that is so far, but I'll keep looking.

Obviously, what you have would be rather rare to come by from somewhere outside of the country of origin, and therefore, it should make its numismatic value very high. I would estimate at least a couple thousand dollars to the right bidder, especially one interested in ancient Roman Catholic iconology. (Okay, I'll be honest.... that would be really cool to add to MY collection, but I don't think I'll be finding one in my pocket change!!! )

Anyhow, I hope this helps more to figure out what you have there! Nice find!

~AJ

 

Typically, that symbol in paintings and other religious symbology of the time was reserved for SAINTS ONLY.

Doubtful.... this coin refers to St. Peter, not Pope Petrus. (Because of the halo.)

 

Thank you so much ajm, you have great knowledge about the subject.

 

ROII could stand for ROM as "Rome" or roman

 

Right, that is what I suggested before (see msg #5). But that would also mean it's not Italian ...

Christian

 

If it is not Italian, it means it is not from the Vatican !!

 

If it says ROM (which I would doubt stands for Rome, anyway), then why, exactly can't it be from Italy? I was under the impression that Rome was in Italy....

 

You got that right And no, I am not sure that it actually says ROM - maybe it does, maybe not. But if this is the city name, then it would be "Roma" in both Latin and Italian ...

Christian

 

Indeed it would be.... which is why I don't think it means Rome, because otherwise it would probably have an "A" on the end. On the other hand, further digging has given me information that the Church of St. Peter (presumably where the feast of St. Peter was held) IS in Rome, and so it may be that the coins have ROM on them to signify this. After all, they are basically 15th-16th century commemorative coins.

~AJ

 

but remeber this was the time before any free speaking language of a country it was latin spoken about this time so perhaps when it says ROM it means Rome yet we think it should say Roma

 

Islamic-coins,this piece is not actually a coin,but a commemorative medal.It is true that Rome is in Italy,but prior to 1860,Italy was a collection of locally-ruled states.Rome was in the Papal States until 1870,when Rome was incorporated into Italy.

Aidan.

 

And there you have it: it is a medal from sometime in the 16th century or thereabouts, made of gold, struck by the Pope of the time to commemorate the feast of St. Peter, which was held in Rome, hence the ROM on the reverse. St. Peter (or St. Petrus) is on the obverse. A potential value woul be somewhere in the thousands. Congrats, good find, and thanks to Aiden for helping me out with my medieval European history!

~AJ

 

Thank you Aiden and sincere thanks to all those who tried to help me out identifying this coin/medal.

Your help was greately appreciated.

Autumn greetings from Finland.

 

Islamic-coins,I was more than happy to help,& to put any arguments to rest.

How's things over there in Finland? Found any good Euro coins in change?

Aidan.