the early Micklli- Aoes scenictl id lie piissinu .mil a 

 ck'sirc lor erudition to be awakriiinn, loiiis imnetl a 

 wiiiulei'ltil and direct soince ol learning. As a resnit, 

 the general C|iiest among himianists and art Icners lo 

 collect interesting and beautifnl coins spread rapiilK, 

 and soon the pre-Renaissance period was rich with 

 remarkable collections. An onlstandini; ex.miple ol' 

 such art lovers is the great Florentine I'etr.nx h (I'ran- 

 cesco Petrarca, 13(14-1374), one of llie mosl brilliant 

 minds of the early Renaissance, the " lirst modeiii 

 man," as he has been called. This gre.itest among 

 Itali.m hninanists owned ancient coins and ap]ireci- 

 ated them liiuhK'. In his Ejw.lolai- r/r it'hii\ f:iiiiiliiiiihu\ 

 he describes with emotion the coins he bought from 

 peasants dtu'ing his stay in Rome, coins on which he 

 could decipher the names and fe.itnres of Roman 

 emperors: ". . . si\e iit cmeiem, si\ e ut insiul])los 

 eorum viiltus agnoscerem." He presentetl some an- 

 cient gold and siKer coins to Emperor C'.h.ules l\' as 

 a stimulus for the ruler to follow in his reign the ex- 

 ample o( Rome. On this occasion Petrarch confessed 

 how nuich he enjoyed collecting coins: ". . . alirpiol 

 sibi aureas argenteasque nostrorum prlncijnim elhgies. 

 minutisslmis ac vcteribus litteris inscriptas, quae in 

 deliciis habebam, dono cledi . . . ." *'' 



Petrarch's interest in Roman antiquities was shared 

 b\' many of his friends, among them the lamous tribune 

 of the people and leader of a popular uprisint; ,i",iinsl 

 the patricians in Rome, Cola di Rien/i (1313 1334). 

 A listing of collectors in the 14th centur\- wotild 

 include numerous other famous names, most ol them 

 Italian. 



Bv a strange irony, Petrarch's great .idmir.nion loi 

 these minute, ancient historic documents initiated 

 the nefarious custom of "counterfeitint;" ancient 

 coins. From his stimulus, Marco Sesto and l'r.mces<i) 

 Novello of Clarrara began to engrave loins in imi- 

 tation of ancient pieces. In their eagerness to com- 

 plete the iconographic series of Roman emperors 

 ihey were not aware that they actually were xiohilini; 

 the cardinal requirement in ntunismalics aulhen- 

 ticit\-. Such reproductions found ready acceptance 

 and many collectors followed the example ol Duke 

 John of Berry, who included in his own colleciion a 

 number of such portrait coins. In addition to ori'.;i- 

 nal compositions of the sixteenth centurv, tliere can 

 be found also the so-called Paduans, a collec liw n.mie 

 which designates a group of ancient coin imil.ilions, 

 chiellv Roman medallions, bet^un by llie Lnnous 



enL;ra\ei (lio\,nini (:.i\ ino ( 1 3(Hl |S~(i) hum P.idu.t.'"' 

 Mis Work lound wools nl' .ippreci.uion ,is kite as the 

 1 Stii centurw w hen ( Jerman immism.i lists like loli.nm 

 D.uid KiUiler '" or |oli,nm Ileimiih .S( liul/e pi-,ii-ed 

 liis artistic skill .ind his siiucre inhnlions in [iicipaga- 

 tin<; interest in (Jic-ek ,iud Rom.m an. Ourrenilv. as 

 Prof. W'ilK .S( hw aliacher li.is noted,'" these pieces arc 

 nol regarded an\ longer as falsifications in the true 

 sense of the wui'd. 



The ri.se ol ihe il.ili.in m.iiilinic republics ol X'eniee 

 and Genoa, \sith their l.ir-ieachim; commeri i.il lies, 

 brought consider, ible we.illh lo llie niainl.in<l. ( )n 

 the basis ol llourishiii',; eeonomie condilioiis, ,in unp.ir- 

 alleled upsui^f in cnllni.il acli\ilies bei;,m. Ihe 

 upper classes ol lliex- republics competed ai;.iinst the 

 aristcjcracy and the wc.illliv bourgeoisie of other 

 powerful Itali.m cities like i'loicnee, Siena, i'isa, 

 Milan, as well as the splendid court of the popes in 

 Rome. There, C'.irdiii.il li.irbo, who Liter beciine 

 Po|)e Paul II (14()4 I4"l ), assembled ■m oiil-i. Hiding 

 collection of antiriuities which formed the b.isis for 

 the .St. Mark Museum. In the ,ii I collections of the 

 Farnese, ancient coins round llii-ir pi. ice. 



Antonius, Cardin.il ol St. M.irk, ,i nephew of Pope 

 Eugene I\' (1431 1447), was well known for his 

 collection of ancient coins, which contained ')7 gold 

 and o\er IbdO siKer coins. ^'' In I''lorenci' the great 

 C^osimo de' Medici (13S') 14(ill included, in his col- 

 lection of famous art objects, (4reek and Rom.m coins, 

 to which his sons Pietro aiifl Eoren/o the M.igniticeiit 

 (144S-14")2) added m.my significant pieces. .\n in- 

 \entorv taken in 14(i5 shows 100 gold and 5o3 siKer 

 coins in the Medici cabinet, to which Liter were atkled 

 1.S44 copper coins. '" 



.Mfonso \' ( 141 (i 145S) of .\r, 114011, Kiii'.; of Sicily ,md 

 .\,i|:iles, a true son of the Ren, liss. nice who re. id .iiid 

 .idmired the i l.issi( .il .inthois, kepi his coins in .111 

 i\diy coller which he c.iiiied .iloin; on his lr,i\'els. 

 It w.is said tli.il the si^lit ol ihesr pieces w.is .1 slroni; 

 incentive for him lo imil.ite llie \iiliies ol ihose whose 

 images lhe\ rc])resenlei:l. 



<"• H.MiLC'iN, /laile, vol. I, cols. S3 8-t. 

 P.\FER 32: NUMISM.ATICS .AN .XNt IIICNT SCIKNCF. 



<'• .Scr l,.\\vRi Nc:r. Mduh I'v Cn'nwiu Ciniw (IRS.i); Ciiowi n, 

 ■i'.uliuin I'omiMlcs .it Kiiiii.in floiiis" (r'Sl.); liiUMiMti, 

 ■■|'.i(luani r" (I'M.''); Kiscii, ".N'miiisnialisc lies ■Kuiistl.ilsi licr- 

 tnin' ini Url. il dn Zritniiic.sscn" (l'J.S4). I'nr liililioijr.ipliii .il 

 inloiiiuitiini, srr Ui kmiaki. Ihmilhmh. p. -^"i. 



'« ■■Miinzin cirs .Mlniimis," pp. l.S.^ \>\. 



("SlRAIIM, l.r li:n,:,l, ,1.1 Mnl.iillinf I'alu.nsi: \.i|. I, ilUDcl.; 

 Mi-Niz, /..- '"'> " /" """ 'I" /'"/'" 0H"« \><V.2). 

 w.See Muni/. /.'.> udlnli.nn ,/, , ,t /,■./,. m, pp. K., .W, 74, 7-). 



13 



