1 Testone - Clement XII URBE NOBILITATA - Cartouche

Clement XII — born Lorenzo Corsini — became pope in 1730 at the age of seventy-eight, already nearly blind, and governed almost entirely from bed for most of his pontificate. The URBE NOBILITATA ("the city ennobled") coinage relates directly to his ambitious public works program in Rome, most notably his commission of the Trevi Fountain, begun under his patronage in 1732. The testone was the vehicle of choice for commemorating such projects, functioning as portable propaganda in an era when the papacy's temporal credibility required constant reassertion.

The cartouche reverse variant is distinguished among the Munt.50–55 sequence by its framing device, making die attribution particularly useful for collectors working this series.