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Grosso - John XXII
| Issuer | Papal Mint of Macerata (Papal States) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1316-1334 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Groschen (1 Grosso) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A plain cross pattee with slightly tapering arms centered within a raised inner circle, the whole set against a flat field. The cross divides the inner field into four equal quadrants. An outer circular Latin legend reading SALVE٠SCA٠CRUX (Hail, Holy Cross) surrounds the inner circle, separated by a prominent beaded border. Six decorative Gothic star or lozenge ornaments punctuate the outer legend at intervals, consistent with the devotional imagery characteristic of papal grossi of this period. |
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| Mintage | ND (1316-1334) |
| Additional information |
John XXII, elected pope in 1316 at age seventy-two, ruled from Avignon rather than Rome — and it was precisely this absentee administration of the Papal States that made mints like Macerata politically indispensable. Local coinage reinforced temporal authority in territories that could not be governed in person. The Macerata grosso was struck under the oversight of a papal rector, one of several appointed officials tasked with keeping the central Italian communes from drifting toward the Ghibelline factions John spent much of his pontificate fighting.
John XXII was also the pope who declared the Franciscan doctrine of apostolic poverty heretical in 1323, triggering a prolonged conflict with the Franciscan order and the excommunication of Louis IV — turbulent ecclesiastical politics that ran concurrently with this coin's entire production window.