210, Lot: 344. Estimate $150. Sold for $145. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Papal Medals. Pius II (Enea Silvio Piccolomini). 1458-1464. Æ Medal (43mm, 45.63 g, 12h). · PIVS · II · · PONT · MAX ·, bust left, wearing camauro and mozzetta / VELOCITER · SCRIBENTIS · SOBOLES, table covered with books; below, · NE · TANTI · ECCLESIÆ ·/· PACISQ · AMANTIS ·/· DELEATVR ·/· MEMORIA · in four lines. Mazio 15; Lincoln 350-1; DDL pl. II, 2. Superb EF.

From the Luparello Collection.

Born in Corsignano and settling in Siena as a teacher, Pius II took particular interest in the threat which was posed by the Turks. It was he who influenced Vlad Ţepeş, the prince of Wallachia and infamously known as Vlad Dracula, to lead an attack upon the sultan Mehmed II. Though he possessed great oratorical and literary abilities, Pius II was unable to accomplish many of his goals, entangled in minor disputes and swayed by personal ends. His literary work, The Tale of Two Lovers (Historia de duobus amantibus), continues to be read today and stands out as an erotic tale written by a Pope.