He was most likely the son of Geremia di Nicolino dei Geremei, a Mantuan goldsmith whose name was prevalent in documents from Mantua between the years of 1438 and 1480.
Cristoforo worked independently until 1461, when he was employed by Cardinal Lodovico Trevisan, a known admirer and collector of ancient art.
With Cardinal Trevisan as his patron, Cristoforo traveled with the commander of the papal troops to Perugia in 1461 and to Florence in 1462.
Pope Paul II is considered the first pontiff to realize the potential of medals as an instrument of the state and for personal propaganda.
The back shows Pope Paul II's coat of arms, from his status as the Venetian cardinal Pietro Barbo, and includes a rampant lion, the papal keys, and a tiara.
The medal was produced in conjunction with the pope's announcement of peace in the Basilica of San Marco on April 25, 1468.
Versions of the medal were most likely distributed to notable attendees of the event as well as sent to secular rulers of the peninsula.
The inscription assimilates Pope Paul II to Augustus stemming from the inherently imperial nature of the peace proclamation in 1468.
[5] Others argue that the two figures and the inscription are the deliberate imitation of a Roman coin,[3] the inspiration deriving from a sestertius of Plotina when Cristoforo was making his medal of Constantine.
[4] The second signed medal from Cristoforo di Geremia shows Alfonso V of Aragon, King of Naples.