Posted 01/27/2026 08:28 am
As noted in the Numista link, Year 24 of this pope translates to AD 1869.
The biblical scene depicted on the reverse is from Mark 4:37-38 (Jesus calming the storm), where the disciples are trying to stop the boat from sinking and find Jesus asleep in the back of the boat.
The Latin scripture surrounding this image is not directly from this story, but rather from Psalm 74:22 - "Rise up, Lord, and judge your cause". The original Psalm is in the context of the Gentiles conquering Jerusalem and defiling the Jewish Temple. The imagery and scripture both make sense, given the event and the times it was struck for.
The medal was struck in commemoration of the First Vatican Council, a church conclave summoned by Pope Pius XI in 1869 in answer to the rising threat of the Kingdom of Italy. The Pope back then was not only Pope of the Catholic Church, but also Prince of the Papal States, a large territory across central Italy including the entire city of Rome and it's surrounding towns. The newly arisen Kingdom of Italy had unified the rest of what we now call Italy and desired to conquer or otherwise assimilate the Papal States, especially as they desired that Rome would become the capital city of the new kingdom. The Pope, naturally, was opposed to such seizure of his lands.
The Council deliberated for several years on this and other doctrinal matters, finally dissolving itself in 1870 when the French withdrew their protective garrison and the Italians invaded the Papal States and annexed Rome; the Pope and his entourage refused to recognize the annexation and locked themselves in the Vatican tower and didn't come out until Pope Pius XI signed the treaty in 1929 which created the modern-day Vatican City State, allowing the Pope to retain his political independence from Italy even though now in a much smaller territory.
The biblical scene depicted on the reverse is from Mark 4:37-38 (Jesus calming the storm), where the disciples are trying to stop the boat from sinking and find Jesus asleep in the back of the boat.
The Latin scripture surrounding this image is not directly from this story, but rather from Psalm 74:22 - "Rise up, Lord, and judge your cause". The original Psalm is in the context of the Gentiles conquering Jerusalem and defiling the Jewish Temple. The imagery and scripture both make sense, given the event and the times it was struck for.
The medal was struck in commemoration of the First Vatican Council, a church conclave summoned by Pope Pius XI in 1869 in answer to the rising threat of the Kingdom of Italy. The Pope back then was not only Pope of the Catholic Church, but also Prince of the Papal States, a large territory across central Italy including the entire city of Rome and it's surrounding towns. The newly arisen Kingdom of Italy had unified the rest of what we now call Italy and desired to conquer or otherwise assimilate the Papal States, especially as they desired that Rome would become the capital city of the new kingdom. The Pope, naturally, was opposed to such seizure of his lands.
The Council deliberated for several years on this and other doctrinal matters, finally dissolving itself in 1870 when the French withdrew their protective garrison and the Italians invaded the Papal States and annexed Rome; the Pope and his entourage refused to recognize the annexation and locked themselves in the Vatican tower and didn't come out until Pope Pius XI signed the treaty in 1929 which created the modern-day Vatican City State, allowing the Pope to retain his political independence from Italy even though now in a much smaller territory.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
