Any Papal Medals Out There?

PIUS X. 66mm

Beautiful Papal medals posted. I have a few old papal coins but only one old papal artifact, maybe more an adornment than a medal. Got it from the Edwards Metcalf and Buddy Ebsen (the actor) auction 1987 Superior Galleries, Pope Pius V 1566-1572 bronze gilt in bezel. A lot of the gold gilt has worn off. I don't know if it was an official Vatican release or privately made.

I thought it was interesting example showing the Popes took the same religious title as Roman Emperors "Pontifex Maxiumus" and used "Roma" as on some Roman coins. Mary and Jesus are on reverse. I haven't taken close up pics of it.

I also have some celebrity autographs including a Buddy Ebsen.

livingwater your medal will surely have been made after 1712. It may be from that time, when Pius V was canonized. It is a medal. Not an official papal medal but a devotional medal. Like most of those about recent popes. Still a very nice collection medal.

Papal medals proper are only the yearly medals struck by order of the the papal mint. Some also include the official commemorative medals struck there.

jecz79, thanks much for the info! I hadn't thought about it maybe being made later after he was canonized. I'll likely never know who made it and when. It was used a lot for sure.

Pope John XXIII. Reign was October 1958 - June 1963. Bronze. 50mm. Undated.

The papal coat of arms on the reverse includes the symbol of Venice, a winged lion, where Cardinal Angelo Roncalli was Patriarch from 1953 to 1958.
The dorm I lived at my junior year of college was named "Roncalli House"

Nice examples, cptbilly.

Pius XII year XX medal.



It commemorates the participation of the Holy See in the 1958 Brussels World's Fair. Counts as an extraordinary yearly medal. The official one for year XX was about the Vatican Radio.
The sculpture was done by Aurelio Mistruzzi. The obverse has the usual representation of the pope, Pius XII in his last year. The reverse depicts on the left the church included in the pavilion of the Vatican in the Expo, on the right a city wall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:...Building.tif
In front an allegory of the church opening its fold to embrace and sponsor works of human ingenuity.

The medal is very well preserved. But the previous owner had it exposed and has accumulated much dust. That can facilitate corrosion in the future. I am thinking if a quick treatment with a weak base to remove all that dirt is called for. Or should be content with storing it in a dry environment.

Nice medal, jecz79!