1 Ducat

1439, Papal States, Roman Senate. Gold Ducat (Zecchino) Coin. (3.5gm) NGC MS-64!

Mint Period: 1350-1439 AD
State: Vatican, Roman Senate (1st Period)
Condition: Certified and graded by NGC as MS-64!
Reference: Friedberg 2, Berman 149, Biaggi 2125. Rare!
Denomination: Ducat (immitating a venetian type Zecchino)
Diameter: 20mm
Weight: 3.50gm
Material: Gold!

Obverse: St. Peter standing right, holding book of gospels and presenting banner to kneeling senator.
Legend: • S • PETRVS • ATOR • VRBIS • / NES (vertical along banner)  

Reverse: Christ standing facing, raising hand in benediction and holding Gospels, surrounded by elliptical halo containing nine stars.
Legend: • ROMA CAPVT MV NDI • S • P • Q • R • (facing head of John the Baptist) •
Expanded: ROMA CAPUT MUNDI - SENATUS POPULASQUE ROMANUS
Translated: "Rome capital of the world. The Senate and People of Rome."

SPQR is an initialism from a Latin phrase, Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The Senate and People of Rome"), referring to the government of the ancient Roman Republic, and used as an official signature of the government. It appears on coins, at the end of documents made public by inscription in stone or metal, in dedications of monuments and public works, and was emblazoned on the standards of the Roman legions. Since the meaning and the words never vary, except for the spelling and inflection of populus in literature, Latin dictionaries classify it as a formula.

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The Roman Senate (Latin: Senatus Romanus; Italian: Senato Romano) was a political institution in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city (traditionally founded in 753 BC). It survived the overthrow of the kings in 509 BC, the fall of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC, the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, and the barbarian rule of Rome in the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries.

During the days of the kingdom, it was little more than an advisory council to the king. The last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown following a coup d'état led by Lucius Junius Brutus, who founded the Republic.

During the early Republic, the Senate was politically weak, while the executive magistrates were quite   powerful. Since the transition from monarchy to constitutional rule was   most likely gradual, it took several generations before the Senate was   able to assert itself over the executive magistrates. By the middle   Republic, the Senate had reached the apex of its republican power. The   late Republic saw a decline in the Senate's power, which began following   the reforms of the tribunes Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus.

After the transition of the Republic into the Principate, the Senate lost much of its political power as well as its prestige. Following the constitutional reforms of the Emperor Diocletian,   the Senate became politically irrelevant, and never regained the power   that it had once held. When the seat of government was transferred out   of Rome, the Senate was reduced to a municipal body. This decline in   status was reinforced when the emperor Constantine the Great created an additional senate in Constantinople.

After the Western Roman Empire fell in 476, the Senate in the West functioned for a time under barbarian rule before being restored after the reconquest of much of the Western Roman Empire's territories during the reign of Justinian I.   The Senate in Rome ultimately disappeared at some point after AD 603   (the year in which the last known senator was mentioned), although the   title "senator" was still used well into the Middle Ages as a largely   meaningless honorific. However, the Eastern Senate survived in   Constantinople, until the ancient institution finally vanished there c.   14th century.