1 Quattrino - Clement XII St. Ubaldo - standing, bare head

Clement XII — Lorenzo Corsini — was elected in 1730 at age 78 and was almost entirely blind within two years of taking the papal throne. That the Gubbio mint remained active under his pontificate reflects less any economic ambition than the stubborn persistence of local civic minting rights in the Papal States, where individual cities had long negotiated semi-autonomous coinage privileges tied to their patron saints. Gubbio's devotion to St. Ubaldo, bishop of the city in the twelfth century and credited with turning back Frederick Barbarossa's forces in 1155, made his appearance on even the most minor copper issues a matter of local pride rather than papal directive.