1 Testone - Clement XI FOENERATVR DOMINO

Clement XI's papacy opened directly into catastrophe: elected in 1700, he almost immediately became enmeshed in the War of the Spanish Succession, backing Philip V against the Habsburg claimant in a political miscalculation that cost the Holy See dearly. By 1709, Imperial troops would occupy Rome itself and Clement would be forced to reverse his recognition of Philip entirely. This testone, struck five years before that humiliation, was issued from a papal treasury already under severe diplomatic strain.

The FOENERATVR DOMINO inscription references Proverbs 19:17 — lending to the poor as lending to God. A pointed choice for a pontificate that would spend much of its energy negotiating debts, both financial and political.