New papal states book: piastras and scudos

worldcoinguy

Since Iosephus has me thinking about books, I was curious if anybody has seen this new book in hand? It looks like it was just published at the end of 2013.

The papal piastra and scudo: numismatic jewelry and artistic masterpieces
Authors: Alberto D'Andrea, Christian Andreani, Alessio Novelli



link to ebay auction

Iosephus

I, too, am curious about this book. I also saw it a couple of months ago, but have only seen as much as you have (the eBay listing). I've avoided purchasing this one since I'm trying to focus on medals, and I know that a book exclusively on the most beautiful coins of the papal states will be too much temptation!

If you end up buying a copy, I'd appreciate if you'd post a review.

STLNATS

I saw this on ebay but after looking at the images it seems to duplicate a lot of material I have already (including a set of the Muntoni cats). I'm not sure of the value add or even if I'd really ever use it. But if I saw one cheap I'd probably pick it up just to have it. Until then, I'll try to get a copy from InterLibrary Loan to see for sure.

worldcoinguy

I will say that the words "numismatic jewelry" in the title makes me cringe, however.

Iosephus

<< <i>I will say that the words "numismatic jewelry" in the title makes me cringe, however. >>


Probably not the best choice of words, but it is unfortunately apropos:
(not mine)

Zohar

Worth a purchase given these beautiful designs and limited catalog resources.

EVillageProwler

<< <i>Worth a purchase given these beautiful designs and limited catalog resources. >>



Si, signore!

brg5658

<< <i>I will say that the words "numismatic jewelry" in the title makes me cringe, however. >>



I think it may just be a poor translation by whomever transcribed the book into English. It's original title in Italian is:

Piastre e scudi papali: gioielli numismatici e capolavori d'arte

And, a more appropriate translation in English would likely be:

The papal piastra and scudo: numismatic jewels and artistic masterpieces.

I would guess the intent is that they are using the word "jewels" idiomatically to mean small pieces of beautiful workmanship (i.e., jewels). However, without seeing the interior and actual content I suppose it could actually be referencing the use of the coinage being inset in jewelry.

Bob13

Old thread - but wondering if anyone can comment on this book? I picked up a couple papal coins and wondering if this might be a good resource?

Iosephus

I finally bought a copy of the book a while back. As the title states, it only covers the large piastra (and half piastra) coins. It has color images and descriptions of each type and tries to really break down varieties (often without images for varieties), but I do not find it all together a great book. Personally, I would get the new Monete Italiane Regionali (MIR) volumes covering the Papal States (Stato Pontificio) instead. They cover all of the coins, are well organized, and also have color images to enjoy when you're not just researching a specific coin (though the text is in Italian). Only the first three volumes have been released so far, covering through 1724. I purchased mine from Kolbe & Fanning, though I see they are out of stock on Volume III at this time: https://numislit.com/advSearchResults.php?action=search&orderBy=relevance&category_id=0&keywordsField=stato+pontificio