210, Lot: 415. Estimate $100. Sold for $130. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Papal Medals. Benedict XIII (Pietro Francesco Orsini). 1724-1730. Æ Medal (31mm, 15.63 g, 1h). Ermenegildo Hamerani, engraver. Dated year 1 (1724/5). · BENEDICT · · XIII · PONT · M · A · I, bust right, wearing camauro, mozzetta, and pallium / TV · DOMINVS · ET · MAGISTER ·, Christ kneeling left, washing the feet of disciple seated left; in exergue, EXEMPL · DEDI/· VOBIS · in two lines. Cf. Mazio 417/430 (obv./rev.); Lincoln 1717. Superb EF.

From the Luparello Collection.

Benedict XIII was the third and final member of Orisini family to serve as Pope. Born in Gravina to noble parents, he was a man of modesty and simplicity, pursuing an end to the rather lavish lifestyles of the priests and cardinals. This simplicity lent itself to his inability to rule, thereby delegating many of his powers to Cardinal Niccolò Coscia, a man who eventually caused the economic collapse and ruin of the Papal treasury.