1 Testone - Clement VIII Jubilee - Closed Door

Clement VIII declared 1600 a Holy Year — the last jubilee of the sixteenth century — and commissioned special coinage to mark the occasion. The "Closed Door" type refers to the sealed Holy Door of St. Peter's, struck before the formal opening ceremony on Christmas Eve 1599, distinguishing it from the companion "Open Door" issue produced after the rite was performed. The jubilee itself drew an estimated three million pilgrims to Rome, an extraordinary logistical strain on the city and, incidentally, a significant driver of coin demand at papal mints.