Italy, Rome, Giovanni Antonio Rossi, Pope Pius IV (1559-65), uniface lead medal, year 1 (1559-60), bust left wearing cope ornamented with panels depicting the evangelists St John and St Mark, and with morse depicting Christ, 72mm (Armand II, 215, 15; Kress 370a = Pollard 424), pierced, some edge damage, very fine contemporary cast of high quality Although unsigned the medal bears similarities to signed medals by Rossi of Marcellus II (1555) and Paul IV (1556) - see Attwood p. 130-131. Rossi was employed in Florence in 1556, returning to Rome in 1559, the time this medal was created, when he took up a position in the Papal mint.

Estimate: 400-600