Papal Baiocco

The Papal Baiocco's design changed with every pope's election, turning each minting into a hurried affair to update the dies.

This meant that from 1627 to 1866, these copper coins from the Papal States featured a parade of papal portraits, from Urban VIII's stern profile to Pius IX's more elaborate one. Struck in Rome and other papal mints, they were often produced on irregular planchets, sometimes sourced from recycled copper scrap. Variations in quality were common; some years saw blurry strikes due to worn dies, while others might have included errors like off-center images. We don't know exact mintages for most issues, as records were spotty and some were destroyed in later conflicts.

As for fakes, they were rampant—every street vendor seemed to have a talent for it. One dry observation: trying to distinguish a genuine Baiocco from a counterfeit is like spotting the pope in a crowd of cardinals.