On April 14th 2010, on the occasion of a papal audience, the Archpriest of the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, His Excellency Archbishop Monterisi presented as a gift to the Holy Father Benedict XVI a volume entitled ‘Coins offered by pilgrims to St Paul Outside the Walls’. In attendance at the audience were the author Dr. Giancarlo Alteri, Professor Roberto Mazzei and Dr Ferruccio Ferranti, respectively the President and Managing Director of the Polygraphic Institute and National Mint which printed the volume for free and the Managing Director of the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, Dr Pier Carlo Visconti. The volume, which is on sale in the bookshop of St Paul’s Basilica and in the Polygraphic Institute shops, represents an important historical document and is a real rarity for keen coin collectors. Reading through this book and looking at the reproductions of these coins, it is possible to ‘relive’ historical events from long ago which appear closer through the testimony of protagonists of that period.
It is well known that the primitive basilica of Constantine, built to house the mortal remains of the Apostle of the Gentiles, was constructed close to the site of a vast necropolis on the Via Ostiense and that the Emperor modified the laws protecting the cemetery in order to allow the building of the Basilica.
Practically speaking, devotion to the burial place of St Paul grew up immediately after his martyrdom and has continued to the present day. During the first centuries, in order to enable pilgrims who wished to get close to the tomb, a marble slab with holes in it was placed horizontally over the stone sarcophagus. Through these holes, the body of the martyr was incensed but another important tradition was also facilitated: that of donating offerings to the Apostle, with the proceeds being used to support the clergy and help the poor and needy.
Those monetary offerings have always been donated. Therefore, over the centuries, examples of the most varied kinds of coins from mints all over Europe were brought by pilgrims and ended up at the tomb of the Apostle.
Over 3.600 types of coins have been found around the Basilica and adjacent areas, discovered during the demolition of the unstable buildings, but above all during the excavations and reconstruction of the basilica burnt down by the fire of 1823. The history recounted on the pages of this volume is not just that of the coins themselves but also of the eras to which they are connected. It is not simply a history of economic assets but also a history of the faith of those pilgrims who came from all across Europe to the tomb of St Paul to pray and honour him. As they journeyed from afar, those pilgrims travelled through all sorts of regions, bringing with them as many different stories: stories of fear, hope and joy, perhaps the very same stories that pilgrims today bring with them from all over the world as they come to stand and pray at the tomb of the Apostle which was brought to light through recent excavations after centuries buried below ground.
