Historical Collection Catalogue

Obverse: shield of the Pope; lettering = VRBANVS.III.PONT.M.1631. Reverse: bust of Saint Peter above a cardinal hat and Barberini's coat of arms; lettering = S.PETRVS.AVENIO. VF (very fine). The Barberini family, an aristocratic Italian dynasty, attained enormous riches, power and influence in 17th-century Rome, peaking with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini as Pope Urban VIII in 1623. The Barberini palaces, churches and fountains were all adorned with the family's coat of arms - an iconic image of three bees - as a visual reminder of their power and patronage in Baroque Rome.