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1 Testone - Gregorius XIII Jubilee
| Issuer | Papal States (Ancona Mint) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1575 |
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| Shape | Round |
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| Reverse description | Central device depicts the Holy Door (Porta Santa), rendered as a classical temple portal with two flanking columns supporting a triangular pediment, alluding to the Jubilee Year of 1575. Within the doorway, the Roman date MDLXXV is inscribed in four lines. The circular legend IVSTIS PATET — meaning 'open to the just' — runs along the periphery, separated by decorative stops, within a beaded border. The mint name ANCONA appears in the lower exergual area, confirming the Ancona Mint as the place of issue. The design commemorates the Holy Year proclaimed by Pope Gregory XIII. |
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| Reverse lettering | IVSTIS PATET ANCONA MDLXXV |
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| Additional information |
Gregory XIII declared 1575 a Holy Year — only the second jubilee to fall on a 25-year cycle since Clement VI established that interval in 1343. Rome was flooded with pilgrims, and the Ancona mint struck this testone specifically to meet the demand for hard currency along the Adriatic pilgrimage corridor. Ancona functioned as the primary port of entry for pilgrims arriving overland from the eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans.
The 25-year jubilee cycle itself was still contested in Gregory's time; earlier popes had issued jubilees on irregular schedules. This coin exists partly because the calendar reform Gregory pushed through seven years later — the Gregorian calendar of 1582 — required the kind of administrative confidence that a well-managed jubilee year helped establish.