103179 | ITALY. Vatican City. Pope Saint Ioannes XXIII silver Medal.

103179  |  ITALY. Vatican City. Pope Saint Ioannes XXIII silver Medal. Issued 1961/Year III. The canonization of Gregorio Barbarigo (44mm, 36.56 g, 12h). By Pietro Giampaoli in Rome.

 

IOANNES • XXIII • PONT • MAX / AN • III, bust left, wearing camauro, mozzetta, and stole // SANCTVS • GREGORIVS • BARBADICVS, St. Gregorio seated facing at desk, wearing stole, biretta, and nimbus crown, and holding quill; in two lines in exergue, 26-V / AN • D • MCMLX. Edge: Z 986.

 

Bartolotti E961; Modesti 96; Rinaldi 155. Choice Mint State. Exceedingly brilliant and prooflike, with subtle toning among the fields. Mintage: 4,300.

 

A cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop in both Bergamo and Padua, he was greatly revered for pastoral initiatives and scholarly learnings, as well as visitations within his ecclesiastic dominions. Given his strong standing within the Church hierarchy, he was considered a frontrunner to become Pope during the papal conclaves of 1689 and 1691. He was beatified in 1761 under Pope Clemens XIII (Clement), and was finally canonized, as celebrated on this medal, in 1960 under Pope Ioannes XXIII (John), who himself would later be canonized in 2014 under the recently-deceased Pope Franciscus (Francis).

 

Upload: 19 May 2025.