Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 2075. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Papal States. Paul II as Cardinal Pietro Barbo. 1418-1471. Æ Medal (34mm, 30.82 gm, 6h). On the construction of Palazzo San Marco in Rome. Dated 1455. PETRVS BARBVS VENETVS CARDINALIS S MARCI, bust left, in cap and stola / HAS AEDES CONDIDIT ANNO CHRISTI MCCCCLV, Barbo coat-of-arms. Serenissima 12; Hill, Italian 737; Kress 206. Good VF, mahogany patina. ($750)

This remarkably modernistic medal commemorates the beginning of construction on the huge Palazzo San Marco, the home of the Venetian delegation to Rome, begun while Barbo was Cardinal of Venice and continuing after he became Pope Paul II in 1464.