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1 Testone - Clement XI QVIS PAVPER? AVARVS
| Issuer | Papal States (Ferrara Mint) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1717 |
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| Value | 1 Teston (0.30) |
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| Obverse description | Central field bears the elaborate papal arms of Clement XI (Giovanni Francesco Albani), consisting of a crowned shield decorated with floral and foliate ornaments in the Baroque style, surmounted by the papal tiara and crossed keys. The shield is flanked by richly engraved scrollwork and acanthus-leaf supporters. The circular legend reads CLEMENS XI PONT OPT MAX, separated by small decorative stars, running along the inner border of a beaded rim. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents an ornate Baroque cartouche framed by elaborate scrollwork and acanthus leaves, enclosing the three-line moral motto QVIS PAVPER? AVARVS (Who is the pauper? The miser), rendered in bold capital letters. The date 1717 is divided across the lower portion of the cartouche, flanked by the split mint abbreviation FER and RAR for Ferrara. Below the cartouche appears a small shield bearing the arms of the mint city. The design is enclosed within a beaded outer border. |
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| Additional information |
Clement XI is best remembered numismatically for the 1717 Jubilee coinage — and for the theological storm he was simultaneously navigating. His bull Unigenitus, issued in 1713, condemned 101 propositions from Jansenist theologian Pasquier Quesnel and ignited a constitutional crisis in France that dragged on for decades. The Ferrara mint, by then one of the more active provincial papal operations, continued producing silver testonati through this period largely to service local commercial needs rather than any ceremonial mandate.
The motto Quis pauper? avarus — "Who is poor? The miser" — derives from classical Stoic thought, a pointed choice for a pontificate increasingly entangled in disputes over ecclesiastical wealth and Jesuit finances.