Vatican, City State. An Order Of Pope Pius Ix, Grand Cross Case, C.1885 Newly Listed measuring 45 mm (w) x

measuring 45 mm (w) x 46 mm (h)

in spite of the intense cold

large version measuring 23

marked “53

Vatican, City State. An Order Of Pope Pius Ix, Grand Cross Case, C.1885 Newly Listed measuring 45 mm (w) x(Ordo Pianus or Ordine Piano). Instituted in 1847. Hardshelled design on both the lid and base, wooden framed, with distinctive rounded corners, the exterior with a red leather covering on five sides, and a red pebbled paper bottom, the lid bearing the embossed Papal coat of arms of Pope Leo XIII (1878 1903) in the centre, the arms containing a pine tree within a large oval fronted by an arched band, a radiant star at the upper left, in addition to