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1/2 Piastra - Clement XI LÆTIFICAT CIVITATEM
| Issuer | Papal States |
|---|---|
| Year | 1706 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 15.9 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Latin |
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| Reverse description | A highly detailed panoramic view of the Port of Ripetta in Rome, depicting the semicircular baroque landing stages descending to the Tiber River, with a large ceremonial vessel prominently centered on the water and several smaller boats in the foreground. The cityscape behind shows a row of buildings and the church of San Girolamo degli Schiavoni with its characteristic dome and campanile. Two reclining river god figures flank the lower exergue, personifying the Tiber. Below, the papal arms appear centrally between the date ANNO 1706, flanked by decorative foliate branches. The arc legend LÆTIFICAT·CIVITATEM, a biblical reference meaning 'it gladdens the city,' appears along the upper rim within a toothed border. |
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| Additional information |
Clement XI's pontificate was defined almost entirely by catastrophe. The War of the Spanish Succession bled through the Italian peninsula, and his 1713 condemnation of Jansenism via the bull Unigenitus fractured Catholic Europe for decades. This 1706 issue predates both the worst military incursions and the Jansenist crisis — struck at a moment when the papacy was still attempting diplomatic neutrality between Bourbon and Habsburg claims, a position that ultimately satisfied neither side and left the Papal States economically exposed.
The LÆTIFICAT CIVITATEM type is documented under Muntoni 55, a relatively confined emission within Clement XI's otherwise prolific silver coinage.