Torrcmuzza, iXfonsitiiior Stcfano Borgia, Ferdinaiido 

 Cospi of Bologna, ManlVcdo Scltala of Milan, 

 Gcronimo Corrcr, and Honorio Arigoni of \'enice,"' 

 are only a few among an impressive group of people 

 who were moved for various reasons to treasure coins. 

 Many of their collections — varied or highly special- 

 ized, modest or excessively wealthy — have disap- 

 peared, their treasures scattered without a trace. 

 Others were transmitted practically untouched to 

 later generations, their records in perfect order. As 

 a result, many famous pieces today can be traced to 

 their original ownersliip, some as far back as two 

 centuries. 



Of special interest is the histcjry of the \'atican C.n'in 

 Cabinet. After a slow start during the 16th and 17ih 

 centuries, the de\'elopment of the cabinet took an 

 unexpected turn upward in the late 1700's. Pope 

 Clement XII (1730-1740) envisioned an outstanding 

 museum which would give artists and visitors to 

 Rome occasion to sec great works of art. As part of 

 the collections he visualized also a group of Roman 

 coins. Accordingly, in 1738 he bought from Ales- 

 sandro Cardinal Albani a remarkable group of 328 

 Greek and Roman coins and medallions, paying the 

 impressive sum of 1 1,000 scudi.'^ These coins, highly 

 regarded by his contemporaries, were housed in the 

 north wing of the newly constructed papal library; 

 they formed substantially the nucleus of the Vatican 

 Coin Cabinet. His successors, especially Benedict 

 XIV (1740-1758), Clement XIV (1769-1774), and 

 Pius VI (1775-1799), spared neither efforts nor 

 money to add new treasures. In addition to the 

 Roman coins and the rare mcdalions in which this 

 collection was remarkably rich, a very good repre- 

 sentative series of the Roman popes was added. 



Pius VI surpassed his predecessors in enriching the 

 \'atican Coin Cabinet. In 1 794 he bought for 20,000 

 scudi the famous cabinet of Queen Christina of 

 Sweden, a collection by then in the possession of the 

 Odescalchi family. Within the short span of a few- 

 decades the popes succeeded in bringing their collec- 

 tion to the highest level, equal almost to the Paris 

 Royal Cabinet. Unfortunately, within a few years 

 many of these exceedingly rare pieces were scattered 

 forever by a turn in history. 



In 1799, during the French occupation of Rome, 

 innumeraijle coins were seized by individual .soldiers 



»' .Vumismala . . . Miisei Honorii Arigoni Veneti ii'l usum jiwentulis 

 rei mimmariae sluJinsar (1741). 



'■ N'KNirri, Aniii/iia numismala . . . ex museo Ahxandri S.R.F.. 

 Card. Albani ill I'liliciinain Ihbliothecam . . . (1739-1744). 



of the French revolutionary army. Only a part of 

 the original Vatican Cabinet could be transported to 

 Paris according to the plans (jf the Directoire in Paris. 

 Count Camillo Serafini gives a detailed account of 

 these events and concludes the story of the regrettable 

 happenings with the observation that "it could be 

 truly said that the cabinet did not exist anymore." '' 

 The Vatican collections, however, were rebuilt in 

 later years. 



It was (mly natural during this period of enlighten- 

 ment, when art and science were benefiting greatly 

 from the impulses emanating from France, that most 

 (jf the potentates of Europe would pay attention to 

 one of the most intellectual of aristocratic pastimes. 

 Indeed, Frederick the Great of Prussia, Louis XV of 

 France, Maria Theresa of Austria, her husband 

 Clharles VI, Duke Anthon Giinther of Schwarzenberg, 

 and Frederick II of Saxe-Gotha competed among 

 themselves for the acquisition of entire collections or 

 of famous single pieces. Charles VI carried his numis- 

 matic fervor so far that he did not want to be separated 

 even during military campaigns from some of his 

 favorite coins. Accordingly, he had a portable coin 

 case made which accompanied him on to the battle- 

 fields of Spain. 



This period holds a special importance for the 

 growth of the Vienna Coin Cabinet, which by 1663 

 numbered over 15,900 pieces. Numismatics was cul- 

 tivated at the Viennese court during the reign espe- 

 cially of Joseph I, Charles' older brother. In 1709 

 the emperor brought the Swedish scholar Carl Gustav 

 Heracus (1671-1725) from the court of the Princes of 

 Schwarzenberg. After Joseph's death in 1711, 

 Heraeus continued his services with Charles VI, who 

 entrusted him with the task of integrating the rather 

 scattered coin holdings of the Viennese ''.Schatzkam- 

 mcr." '" Heraeus not only organized the Vienna coin 

 cabinet but also substantially increased its treas- 

 ures. Enjoying the financial and moral support of 

 the numismatically inclined emperor, Heracus pur- 

 chased many rarities on his numerous travels. In 

 1713 he added to the Vienna Cabinet 1,200 select 

 pieces from the Ambras collection in the Tyrol. 

 .\i)out the same time, the scholarly dissertations on 

 ancient coins by Father Erasmus Froehlich (1700- 

 1758),"^ librarian and professor of archeology, added 



"3 MoneU del Medngliere Valicano, vol. 1, pp. L-LI. 



»< Bergmann, "Pflcge der Numismatik in Osterrcich" (1856). 

 pp. 32-34. 



"'- For a bibliography of his works, sec Babelon, Traiie, vol. 1 . 

 cols. 169-170. _ 



30 



BULLETIN 229: CONTRIBUTIONS I- ROM IHE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



